ODU students, ROTC cadets paint campus rock in Lt. Col. Brandon Shah’s memory
By Anthony Sabella
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NORFOLK, Virginia (WTKR) — On their second day back on campus, Old Dominion University students – including ROTC cadets – created a new tribute to Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, who was fatally shot in Constant Hall on March 12.
The shooting, which is being investigated as a terror attack, led to the school shutting down for Spring Break two weeks early.
When students returned on Monday, the ODU chapter of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) began painting a boulder near the Engineering Systems Building with Lt. Col. Shah’s name and one of the phrases he was known to tell his ROTC classes; “Be bold. Be quick. Be gone.”
On Tuesday, they put on the finishing touch, handprints from students and staff, including Shah’s ROTC cadets.
“Just the support that is coming out today and in general this week is so powerful,” said Andrea Thomas, a junior at ODU and Vice President of the NCNW ODU chapter. ”[Shah] was so involved on campus and, everything that everyone was saying, he was a great person.”
And Shah’s cadets vouched for him on Tuesday. Reporters were asked not to identify the students, but one shared that he chose red paint for his handprint because it was Shah’s favorite color.
“I’ve met a lot of lieutenant colonels and he’s definitely like the easiest one to talk to. Somebody with good leadership skills, somebody to look up to and hopefully, when I commission one day, I’ll be just as good a leader,” said the cadet.
This opportunity to honor Lt. Col. Shah came just days after his celebration of life at Chartway Arena and Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll awarded members of Shah’s ROTC class.
They were given eight meritorious service medals and two Purple Hearts for their efforts in subduing and killing 36-year-old Mohamed Jalloh after he opened fire in their classroom.
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