by 
On the morning of March 12, 2026, students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, were going about their day — walking to class, grabbing coffee, taking tests — when gunshots rang out inside Constant Hall. What unfolded in the next hour shook an entire campus, a city, and frankly, a nation that has grown all too familiar with this kind of headline.
But this is not just a news report. This is a reflection. Because behind every shooting, there is a story of what happens when the darkness inside a human heart is left unchecked — and what God offers as the alternative.
What We Know: The ODU Shooting at Constant Hall
At approximately 10:49 a.m., a gunman opened fire inside Constant Hall on ODU’s main campus. Within minutes, Norfolk Police and ODU Police were on the scene. By 11:30 a.m., the shooter had been neutralized. At 12:05 p.m., the university issued an official all-clear.
Two people were shot and transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in critical condition. The U.S. Army Cadet Command confirmed that both victims are members of ODU’s ROTC program. The gunman is dead. Authorities have not yet officially released identities or a confirmed motive.
ODU canceled all classes and campus operations for the remainder of the day. Classes were also canceled Friday, March 13. Three nearby elementary schools — Larchmont, James Monroe, and W.H. Taylor — were placed on secure hold. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed FBI personnel were on the ground assisting local law enforcement.
For context: Old Dominion University is home to approximately 24,000 students. Nearly 30% of its student body is military-affiliated — a significant number, especially given the school’s proximity to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval station in the world. ROTC is not a fringe program there. It is a central part of the university’s identity.
What an Eyewitness Saw: Calvin’s Account
A student named Calvin, interviewed in a live stream shortly after the incident, described walking to class and witnessing an altercation outside a nearby Starbucks before things escalated. He said he never heard gunshots directly — he was already inside a lecture hall when the chaos unfolded. A faculty member waved him into a room and shut the door behind him.
Calvin relayed what other students who had been closer to the scene told him: that the shooter was a fellow ROTC student, and that the target appeared to be a Lieutenant Colonel who served as a professor. As of the time of this writing, that specific detail has not been officially confirmed. But it is the most detailed firsthand account available, and it paints a picture of something internal — a conflict that escalated to the unthinkable.
Another student, ODU sophomore Logan Hayes, was inside Constant Hall taking a test when it all started. He said the fire alarm went off. When he got outside, he heard multiple gunshots and people screaming. He noted that the police response was immediate.
You can see Calvin’s interview on this livestream.
My First Thought — and My Second One
My first impression when I heard about this was that it was a terror attack. Thankfully, it does not appear to be that. But even as I write that — “thankfully” — I have to pause. Because it is still deeply tragic. A life was lost in rage. Two other people were hurt before it ended. There is no clean version of this story.
We hope and pray the two ROTC members who were shot recover fully. We hold their families and their unit in prayer right now.
And I am also saddened for the shooter. I do not say that to minimize what he did. What he did was wrong. But I am saddened because I know that no one wakes up in the morning wanting to become a killer. Something built up. Something festered. Some grievance — real or imagined — consumed that person from the inside. And in the end, they chose destruction over resolution. They chose rage over restraint. And now they are gone, and they have left a trail of pain behind them.
What I do not understand — cannot understand — is how anyone reaches that point. How does anger grow so large that it overrides everything else? Your future. Other people’s futures. The weight of what you are about to do.
This Is Exactly Why the Fruit of the Spirit Matters
This is why having the fruit of the Spirit is so important. Because when we walk in the Spirit, we do not hurt other people — even when we feel wronged. Even when someone has genuinely done something unjust to us. The Spirit gives us a different way to respond. We forgive. We try to fix the problem. We do good instead of evil.
If that young man had been walking in the Spirit — if he had the tools to process his anger, to seek resolution, to find peace even in a painful situation — he would be alive today. And two other people would not be fighting for their lives in a Norfolk hospital.
That is not a small statement. That is the entire point. The fruit of the Spirit is not a nice addition to a Christian life. It is a matter of life and death — sometimes literally.
Galatians 5:16-26 (NLT)
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants…”
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these…”
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
An Encouragement in the Darkness
Paul lists it plainly in Galatians 5 — “outbursts of anger” sits right there among the works of the flesh. It is not a personality quirk. It is not just having a bad day. It is listed alongside idolatry and sorcery because unchecked anger, at its root, is a spiritual condition. It is a fruit of living outside of God’s design.
But the counter to that is just as clear. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Self-control. These are not things we manufacture on our own. These are produced by the Holy Spirit working in us — if we let Him.
That is the encouragement in the middle of this tragedy. We are not left to fight our own nature alone. We have access to the power and goodness of God. We can have freedom in Jesus Christ over anger, over malice, over the darkness that can grow inside a human heart when left unattended.
Today, a campus in Norfolk is grieving. Families are waiting by hospital beds. A community is asking why. Let this be a moment that moves us — not just to sadness, but to surrender. Surrender to the Spirit. To the fruit. To the better way.
Propheticgems.com | March 12, 2026
Tags: ODU shooting, Old Dominion University 2026, ROTC shooting Norfolk VA, Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5, campus violence, faith and current events
Leave a Reply