By Hannah Rabinowitz

(CNN) — The Justice Department charged a man Friday whom they say sold the gun used in the Old Dominion University shooting, and the charging documents reveal new details about the Virginia attack.

Kenya Mcchell Chapman was arrested Friday in connection to his sale of a pistol to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, the former national guard member who opened fire in an ROTC classroom. Jalloh was previously convicted for attempting to provide support to the Islamic State.

According to court documents in the Chapman case, Jalloh entered a “class/meeting” Thursday at the university attended by both active-duty service members and ROTC students. He twice asked individuals in the room to confirm it was an “ROTC event” and shouted “Allahu Akbar” — or “God is greater” — before opening fire.

Jalloh was subdued and killed by ROTC members in the room before law enforcement arrived, according to court documents and people familiar with the investigation.

Law enforcement officials have been pushed to explain why Jalloh had been let out of prison about two-and-a-half years before his sentence was scheduled to end, and whether they had any idea of his movements leading up to the attack.

The investigation into Jalloh

Jalloh was still on court-mandated probation at the time of the shooting, the documents say, but a probation officer only visited the home he shared with his sister every six months. The last visit was in November 2025.

Investigators ran into their first roadblock as soon as they arrived at the shooting: They couldn’t immediately trace the Glock pistol Jalloh used because the serial number had been partially obliterated. Tracing the serial number typically helps law enforcement determine how a person with previous felony conviction could obtain a firearm.

But they had another chance with Jalloh’s phone, which was discovered lying next to his body, the documents say. One number stood out as a person he had frequently contacted the week before the shooting, and it was traced to Chapman.

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.

Agents searched his house Friday morning and spoke to Chapman, court documents show. Chapman first told agents that he found the gun he sold to Jalloh “in the woods,” investigators say, but later admitted that he stole it from a car in Newport News, Virginia, about a year before the shooting and recently sold it to Jalloh for $100.

Chapman also told agents he had no idea that Jalloh was going to use the gun in his attack as Jalloh had claimed it was for protection as a delivery driver, prosecutors say. While Chapman knew Jalloh had spent some time behind bars, he denied knowing that Jalloh was a convicted felon, according to the documents.

The phone found next to Jalloh’s body allowed law enforcement to retrace his movements in the days leading up to the shooting, investigators outline in court documents. He moved repeatedly between his home, the university, Chapman’s home and an Islamic Center — all of which are in Virginia.

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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