Man arrested on charges of selling pistol to gunman in Old Dominion University attack

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — A man has been arrested and is facing federal charges for allegedly selling the gun used in the deadly shooting during an ROTC class at Old Dominion University, according to court documents.

Kenya Micchell Chapman, is charged with making false statements while purchasing a firearm and dealing firearms without a license.

Prosecutors say the gun was carried Thursday by Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a convicted ISIS supporter who stepped into an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University and opened fire.

Chapman’s arrest provides some clarity on how investigators believe Jalloh, a convicted ISIS supporter who is barred from owning a gun, got around his probation officer and obtained the pistol he used to shoot three people inside the classroom. One of those people, instructor Brandon Shah, later died at the hospital.

According to investigators, Jalloh twice asked individuals inside a classroom to confirm it was an “ROTC event” before opening fire. Witnesses reported him shouting “Allahu Akbar” — or “God is greater” — twice before firing at students. The ROTC members in the room “subdued him” an FBI official said, and court documents say that Jalloh was killed before law enforcement arrived.

Officials weren’t able to immediately trace the Glock pistol Jalloh used because the serial number had been partially obliterated, court documents show.

But Jalloh’s phone was laying next to his body, investigators say, and one number stood out as a person he had frequently contacted the week before the shooting: Chapman’s.

Chapman was known to law enforcement because he was previously under federal investigation for straw-purchasing firearms, or buying a firearm on behalf of another person, court documents say. He was issued a “warning letter” from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and had to write a letter of apology, the documents say.

Law enforcement searched his house Friday morning, according to investigators. Chapman first told agents that he found the gun Jalloh used “in the woods,” investigators say, but later admitted that he stole it approximately one year ago. He then sold the weapon to Jalloh for $100 in the past week.

Chapman told agents that he did not know Jalloh was a convicted felon, and that Jalloh had told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver.

This story was updated with additional reporting.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the type of gun at the attack. Court documents describe the gun as a Glock pistol.

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