Samuel Reineberg - First-Hand Account of the Old Dominion Terrorist Attack | SRS #295

TL;DR

Army ROTC cadet Samuel Reineberg recounts how he and fellow cadets killed a terrorist who shot their professor at Old Dominion University on March 12, 2026.

Key Points

• 1.The attack occurred on March 12, 2026 at Old Dominion University. Muhammad Jalah entered Constant Hall's ROTC senior military science classroom at 10:43 AM, asked if it was the ROC class, shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' and opened fire with an illegally obtained Glock .22 caliber pistol.
• 2.Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw charged the shooter despite being shot. Shaw, the class's sole senior officer instructor, bear-hugged the gunman after being shot at point-blank range (6–7 feet), bringing him to the ground and enabling cadets to respond.
• 3.Four cadets physically subdued the shooter within four minutes. Reineberg and three others pinned the terrorist against the wall, controlled the gun's slide to prevent further firing, and repeatedly stabbed him with a 2–3 inch knife while another used a metal thermos.
• 4.One cadet was shot in the stomach and kept fighting. The cadet who first reached the shooter with a knife was shot in the belly during the struggle and continued stabbing the attacker — he was later awarded a Purple Heart in his hospital room.
• 5.Reineberg neutralized the shooter's gun by gripping the slide. Knowing that holding the slide prevents a semi-automatic pistol from cycling, he and another cadet forced the muzzle away from classmates while still wrestling the terrorist.
• 6.Reineberg gouged out the terrorist's eye with his finger. During the struggle, he used his finger to remove one of the shooter's eyes as part of the physical takedown; the shooter died before police arrived at 10:47 AM.
• 7.Reineberg immediately performed first aid on Colonel Shaw. He applied two improvised belt tourniquets as high as possible on Shaw's femoral wound, cleared his airway, carried him down two flights of stairs, and worked on him until paramedics arrived — covered in blood from shoes to chest.
• 8.Colonel Shaw died at the hospital despite being conscious and talking near the end. Shaw asked for his inhaler while being treated outside the building; Reineberg was told of his death hours later at the police station, which he described as traumatic.
• 9.A female cadet was also shot in the leg during the attack. She was hit in the volley of four shots, likely due to her position in the front row along the line of fire toward Colonel Shaw, and fled the campus on foot after being wounded.
• 10.Reineberg was held at the police station for seven hours without being cleaned up. Covered in blood that began to smell, he was interrogated, offered candy and soda, eventually got Zyn nicotine pouches from an officer, and ate Chick-fil-A before learning Shaw had died.
• 11.The Army notified Reineberg of his Hawaii duty station the day after the attack. He received orders assigning him to Schofield Barracks with the 25th Infantry Division — his first posting as a soon-to-commission logistics officer — calling it a surreal but saving piece of good news.
• 12.Reineberg received a Meritorious Service Medal at Colonel Shaw's funeral, being upgraded to a Soldier's Medal. The Sergeant Major of the Army and Secretary of the Army pinned the award on him; Shaw's family approached him afterward to say thank you, leaving him able only to respond 'I'm so sorry.'
• 13.Post-attack trauma included sleeplessness, bad dreams, and hypervigilance. Reineberg's recurring nightmares centered on Colonel Shaw's wide eyes before losing consciousness and the moment of applying the first belt tourniquet; a Navy chaplain at the hospital offered his personal phone number for support at any future time.