Mohamed Barakat - screenshot: press briefing, City of Fargo YouTube channel, July 17, 2023.
FARGO (KFGO/AP) — The man who shot three Fargo police officers and a civilian, killing one of the officers before an officer killed him, searched the internet for terms including “explosive ammo” and “kill fast,” as well as for what crowded area events might be happening in and around North Dakota’s largest city, authorities said Friday.
Mohamad Barakat, 37, was apparently driven by hatred and wanting to kill and didn’t seem to be particular about which group or individual he might target, state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said at a news conference.
On the day of the attack, July 14, Barakat loaded his car with guns, a homemade grenade, gasoline canisters, and more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition, authorities said. About 2 miles from his home, he came across a fender bender and pulled into a nearby parking lot to watch from his vehicle, authorities said.
He moved his car into another parking lot and then appeared to leave the scene, but minutes later his car returned to the initial parking lot and parked in a spot that faced the crash scene.
Barakat watched for several minutes while police and firefighters responded to the crash. Just after 3:00 p.m., three Fargo police officers walked in the direction of his vehicle, which was parked next to one of the cars that had been involved in the crash and had been moved to clear the street. Investigators believe the officers were approaching to take reports from the occupants of that vehicle, who were standing outside the car at the time, taking photos of the crash damage with their cell phones.
It was then that Barakat raised a.223-caliber rifle out of his open car window and began firing, Wrigley said.
The rifle had a “binary trigger” that allowed it to fire so rapidly that it acted and sounded like a fully automatic weapon, the attorney general said. The three officers who were shot had no time to react and fell in rapid succession.
The fourth officer at the scene, Zach Robinson, then engaged Barakat in a shootout. Barakat’s attention was distracted when the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash, 25-year-old Karlee Koswick, moved to get away from gunfire. Wrigley said it was at that moment that Robinson took aim at Barakat and shot him, also hitting the gun he was holding and disabling it.
Officials say Barakat then rearmed with a 9mm handgun he had on him. Surveillance footage appears to show him attempting to load a clip into the gun while waving it. Robinson’s body cam recorded him instructing Barakat to put his hands up and drop the gun 16 times.
The two-minute-long shootout ended with Robinson shooting and killing Barakat as bystanders crouched nearby.
Wrigley said he believes the violence could have been the beginning of a bigger attack, as the Downtown Fargo Street Fair and the Red River Valley Fair were underway.
He said Robinson was the “last man standing” between Barakat and the “horrible events” he’d planned that day.
Barakat killed Officer Jake Wallin, 23, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and wounded Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes. Wallin and Hawes were so new that they were still undergoing field training.
Barakat was a Syrian national who came to the U.S. on an asylum request in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, Wrigley said, adding that he didn’t appear to have any ties to the Muslim community in Fargo.
Barakat’s internet searches about causing mayhem date back to 2018, and there were periods in which his searches abated before picking back up. He had amassed his arsenal in recent years, the attorney general said. At this stage in the investigation, it seems all of his weapons were purchased legally, and he had many of them in his car on the day of the shooting.
Wrigley said Barakat was wearing a vest that was “absolutely stuffed” with magazines and that he “was putting the finishing touches on his shooting skills in the last hours before this assault.” A bomb-sniffing dog alerted at both Barakat’s car and his South Fargo apartment. Investigators applied for a federal warrant which was authorized before the unit was searched in the early morning hours the day after the shooting.
Barakat had worked odd jobs and briefly trained as an emergency responder at a nearby community college. He had no criminal record or social media presence and had little contact with other people, Wrigley said. He said Barakat had family in the U.S. but not “nearby” and he did not have considerable contact with them. He said that while the investigation is still active, the current perception of investigators is that Barakat fits the description of a “lone wolf,” but he cautioned that no possibilities had been ruled out completely.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said there is an ongoing federal investigation into the shooting, with FBI and ATF agents conducting technical analysis on Barakat’s seized electronic devices. He said no clear motive has been determined in the case.
Wrigley said the Fargo Fire Department had previously responded to a cooking fire at Barakat’s home and that law enforcement was aware a “guardian report” had been made with regard to Barakat in the past, but did not provide any additional detail about the content or nature of that report.
The wounded are recovering, and their conditions are good or stable, authorities said. Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski said both of the hospitalized officers had “miraculously” stood up for the first time on Thursday. Wrigley said Koswick was badly wounded and will have a difficult recovery. Meanwhile, a private funeral service is planned for Saturday for Wallin, whose body was cremated in his police uniform. A public service will be held in Fargo on Wednesday, July 26 at 1 pm.
KFGO NEWS reporter Tasha Carvell contributed to this report.
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