1 killed, 2 others hospitalized in shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia, police say

By Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — One victim is dead and two others were hospitalized after a shooting inside an academic building at Old Dominion University in coastal Virginia Thursday morning, the school’s police chief said.

The assailant also is dead after the shooting at Constant Hall on campus in the port city of Norfolk, university Police Chief Garrett Shelton said at a news conference more than three hours after the incident, without elaborating on how the assailant died.

All three victims were affiliated with the university, Shelton said, without elaborating. No names were immediately released.

The university earlier had said two people were injured in the shooting and the assailant was dead.

Police started to receive calls about the shooting at 10:43 a.m; police officers arrived four minutes later; and by 10:50 a.m. “it was determined that the … assailant was deceased,” Shelton said. The chief did not elaborate on the victims’ injuries, and details about what led to the shooting weren’t immediately available.

An “all clear” has since been given, the university said in online alerts. “There is no longer an active threat to the campus community,” the university said.

The two people injured in the shooting were taken to Norfolk General Hospital, Shelton said. Police later learned a third victim “took themselves to a hospital in Virginia Beach,” Shelton said.

The university has canceled classes and operations on its main campus for the rest of the day, the university said. The shooting at Constant Hall – the school’s main building for the College of Business – happened just days before a weeklong school break is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Old Dominion student Zachary Mulder had just left class in Constant Hall and was reading a book in a building across the way when a large group of people ran in “screaming ‘shooter’ and ‘gun’,” he said.

“My heart dropped. I didn’t really know what was going on. I just know I had to leave immediately,” Mulder told CNN affiliate WTKR. “It was pretty scary at that point, because I didn’t know really what was going on or how close the threat was.”

Students, faculty and staff were being provided with lunch and counseling support after the shooting, a message from university President Brian Hemphill said. “I extend my thoughts and prayers to those impacted by the incident, as well as the entire campus and the broader community,” the message reads in part.

FBI personnel were “providing assistance and working with local authorities responding to the shooting,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a post on X. ATF special agents have also responded, the federal agency told CNN Thursday morning.

State support also was “being mobilized” to assist the university and Norfolk police, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a post on X. “I have spoken with university leadership. My administration remains in close contact with local emergency responders.”

Initially, the university had reported an “active threat” at Constant Hall on its website. “Follow Run-Hide-Fight protocols. Emergency personnel responding. Avoid area,” an emergency alert from the university read.

Old Dominion University is a public institution with around 24,000 students, according to the school. It is located in Norfolk, some 90 miles southeast of Richmond and a 200-mile drive southeast of Washington, DC.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Holmes Lybrand, Devon Sayers, Toni Odejimi and Heather Holley contributed to this reporting.