Army ROTC cadets at Old Dominion University are honoring their slain instructor as a hero, recalling how he gave his own life to shield them during a deadly campus shooting and how their military training enabled them to fight back.
According to Fox News, cadet Wesley Myers told Fox & Friends that The team put together and worked together to face the threat head on, and through the heroic actions of Lt. Col. Shah, a lot of preventable loss was... prevented. Myers appeared alongside fellow cadets Liam Clement and Oshea Bego, who described how an ordinary classroom session turned into a life-or-death struggle when gunman Mohamed Jalloh entered and began behaving erratically.
They recounted how Jalloh repeatedly and nervously asked if the class was ROTC and, once told it was, reportedly shouted Allahu akbar before opening fire on Lt. Col. Brandon Shah. According to the cadets, Shah reacted instantly, moving toward the attacker and placing himself between the gunman and his students.
Shah closed the distance with the shooter and gave his own life to take him down, Clement recalled, crediting the officers courage with stopping a massacre. Jalloh was pronounced dead at the scene, his attack halted by the very warrior ethos that progressive critics of the military so often dismiss.
The cadets emphasized that their ROTC preparationoften derided by the left as overly militaristicproved decisive in saving lives. As ROTC students, we receive training in both medical as well as defensive tactics, Clement shared, noting that this instruction allowed them to respond with discipline rather than panic.
We employed these as a team to both treat Lt. Col. Shah and our wounded as we could, as well as to take the fight to the shooter, he said, underscoring the value of a strong, well-trained citizen-soldier corps on American campuses. The trio also reflected on Shahs personal impact, describing a mentor who embodied duty, honor, and sacrifice.
He meant a great deal to a lot of us, me specifically. I've been in the program for the last four years, so we've been very close during that whole time, Bego said, recalling Shahs steady guidance. He was a great mentor, and even played the role of a honest friend at times. Even when the truth hurt, he made sure that you were on point in everything he could to support us and our goals.
He didnt just treat us like cadets he treated us as a family, Myers added, a reminder that in an era when elites often disparage the armed forces, it is still the quiet professionalism of officers like Shahand the young Americans they trainthat stands between order and chaos.
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