Police arrive outside Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Norfolk, Va. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

By The Canadian Press

1 of 3 victims has died after a shooting at Virginia’s Old Dominion University, campus police say

Mar 12, 2026 | 10:10 AM

A gunman and one victim are dead and two other victims are hurt after a shooting at Old Dominion University on Thursday morning, the Virginia school’s police said.

At a news conference Thursday, Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton confirmed that one of the three victims injured has died. He said authorities learned that there was a third victim who brought themselves to a hospital, he said. The two remaining victims appear to be in stable condition, he said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

A gunman is dead and two people are hurt after a shooting at Old Dominion University on Thursday morning, the Virginia school said.

ODU said a gunman opened fire in its business school building, injuring two people who were sent to the hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear how the shooter died.

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The two people injured are in critical condition, said a spokesperson for Sentera Health, the health care system that oversees the hospital.

Lt. Col. Jimmy Delongchamp, public information officer for the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, told The Associated Press that the two people wounded are members of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at ODU.

“We will continue to coordinate with the university and law enforcement agencies as they investigate the incident,” Delongchamp said in a brief telephone interview. “There’s still a lot more stuff we have to work out.”

Within about an hour of the shooting, ODU declared that there was no longer a threat on the campus.

The public university in Norfolk canceled classes and suspended all operations on its main campus through Friday and urged people to avoid the area in and around Constant Hall while emergency officials continued to work. Counseling and food services will remain available.

In a message to the university community, ODU President Brian Hemphill said the school faced a tragedy on campus. He expressed gratefulness for the swift emergency response and thoughts and prayers to those impacted.

“The safety of our campus community is my top priority,” Hemphill wrote. “We are deeply committed to safeguarding all Monarchs and ensuring a secure learning, living, and working environment at all times.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on the social platform X that it had agents on scene supporting the response.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in social media posts that she was monitoring the situation and that “state support is being mobilized” to help ODU. She didn’t provide specifics.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that personnel from his agency are working with the local authorities who responded to the shooting.

Located in coastal Norfolk, Old Dominion University has about 24,000 students, 17,500 of them undergraduates. The school has around 240 degree programs, and is known for its research spending and doctoral programs. Nearly 30% of its students are military-affiliated, according to the university website. The area is also home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval station in the world.

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Associated Press journalist Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Jonathan Mattise And Olivia Diaz, The Associated Press