Smithfield man pleads guilty to illegally selling the firearm used in the campus shooting at Old Dominion University

NORFOLK, Va. - Kenya Mcchell Chapman, 32, of Smithfield, pled guilty today to dealing in firearms without a license in connection with the March 12 shooting at Old Dominion University (ODU), and with three counts of making false statements during purchases of firearms.

On March 12, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, committed a terrorist shooting at ODU in Norfolk during an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corp (ROTC) class, killing one victim and wounding two more.

According to court documents, a review of Jalloh's cellphone revealed that one of the phone numbers most frequently contacted in the week prior to the shooting was Chapman's, with the most recent call occurring minutes before the shooting. Law enforcement searched Chapman's residence on March 13 and located ammunition consistent with ammunition used in the firearm recovered from the ODU shooting. The serial number of the firearm was partially altered or obliterated. Chapman stole the firearm from a vehicle in Newport News a year before the ODU shooting and sold it to Jalloh the night before the shooting.

Jalloh was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. As a previously convicted felon, Jalloh could not legally purchase or possess firearms or ammunition.

In addition, according to court documents, in 2021, Chapman purchased three firearms that were recovered from crime scenes shortly afterward. Two were recovered from the scene of a homicide and another was recovered from a public intoxication arrest.

Chapman is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18 and faces up to 35 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division and the FBI's Norfolk Field Office investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Gantt and Luke Bresnahan are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:26-cr-34.