In today’s newsletter: The FBI is probing a deadly university shooting as an act of terror. Iran’s new supreme leader gives a fiery first public statement. And immigration officials are violating the legal limit to hold kids in detention.
Here’s what to know today.
University shooter was convicted ISIS supporter, FBI probing attack as act of terrorism
Hours after separate attacks at a Virginia university and a Michigan synagogue, officials have released more information about the suspects.
The FBI have identified Mohammed Bailor Jalloh, 36, as the gunman who opened fire on a classroom at Norfolk’s Old Dominion University. One person was killed and two were injured, and the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
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Jalloh was previously convicted of supporting ISIS and was on probation when he carried out yesterday’s attack, according to court documents. He had sent gift card codes to an undercover FBI employee who he believed was a member of ISIS, according to a government memo. In 2016, he traveled to North Carolina to try to buy an AK-47 for a “plot to murder US military personnel.” At his sentencing, Jalloh called it the “most devastating” mistake he’s ever made.
In a separate incident in Michigan, the FBI is investigating a car ramming attack on a large Detroit-area synagogue as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” The suspect — identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon — was killed by security staff at the Temple Israel synagogue, officials said.
A preschool was in session at the temple, but no children or school staff members were injured, officials said.
While a motive is still under investigation, the attack happened as incidents of antisemitism rise amid the conflict in the Middle East.
What we know about the university shooting.
Iran’s new supreme leader vows vengeance in fiery first statement
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a fiery first public statement yesterday, vowing to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz and attacking neighboring countries that host U.S. military bases.
The written statement struck a defiant tone, even as President Donald Trump indicates that he would like to wrap up the conflict soon amid rising energy prices.
Khamenei’s health and whereabouts are still unclear after Iranian state TV indicated he had been wounded in the wave of strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel previously said it would target anyone appointed to succeed the late elder Khamenei, and experts suggested the statement posed less security risk to the new leader than a public appearance or a video message.
Read more about the new leader’s comments.
Follow NBC News’ live blog for more updates.
More Iran news:
- Four of six U.S. crew members were killed after a refueling aircraft went down in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said. The plane was not brought down by hostile or friendly fire and rescue efforts continue, the statement said.
- “They are turning the country into ruins”: In Tehran, hope for change has turned to panic.
- Oil prices soared 10% as history’s “largest supply disruption” worsened. Trump has regularly touted falling gas prices — but yesterday he said “we make a lot of money” when they rise.
- The White House is comparing the deadly Iranian conflict to video games and movies in social media videos to win support for the war.
- Trump suggested he could not guarantee the security of Iran’s World Cup team should they compete in the tournament.
- A surgeon treating Lebanon’s wounded children said their horrific injuries are bringing back memories from the destruction of Gaza.
- In Gaza, Palestinians feel forgotten as a new war captures attention and ceasefire progress slows.
‘This place broke something in us’: Kids languish in ICE detention long past 20-day court limit
Soon after he was arrested, along with his wife and kids, and dropped off at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, Aleksei began counting down to 20 days — the legal limit on the detention of minors.
But 20 days came and went. Officers told Aleksei and his wife that the rule “is not applicable anymore.”
That isn’t true. But since the start of Trump’s second term, officials routinely violate the limit, confining children like Alexsei’s twins for months in conditions advocates say can be developmentally harmful.
As of January, more than 900 children had been held in detention for longer than 20 days, and roughly 270 of those were confined for more than twice as long.
Read more about the children ICE has detained.
Read All About It
- DHS is hiring a new contractor to run a troubled detention center after three recent deaths and outbreaks of tuberculosis and measles.
- A baseball card featuring New York Yankees star Aaron Judge sold for a modern-day record of $5.2 million.
- NASA is targeting April 1 to launch astronauts around the moon.
- Richard Kahn, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accountant, said in a closed-door House Oversight Committee session that he never saw any wrongdoing while working for the late sex offender.
- Lawyers in a landmark social media addiction trial sparred over whether platforms are responsible for causing mental health issues in children.
Staff Pick: Ed tech industry scrambles to fight a wave of bills to limit screen time in schools
Over recent months, I heard dozens of stories from parents about their kids spending hours doing schoolwork on laptops and iPads in class — including children as young as six.
Lawmakers across 16 states have heard this too, and they’ve introduced bills that block kindergarteners from using devices, cap screen time for older students and create a new vetting process of software schools can use, among other proposals.
The parents I spoke to are thrilled, but for the $164 billion ed tech sector, the proposals are concerning. Industry advocates argue that they would set education back decades and leave graduates unprepared for the modern workforce.
— Tyler Kingkade, reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Looking to upgrade your meal prep game? Select editors rounded up the best meal delivery services to help with dinners, lunches and every snack in between. Plus, ahead of warmer weather, we did a deep dive into the best natural deodorants that actually work.
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