Officer Zach Robinson receives the Medal of Honor.
FARGO (KFGO) – An awards ceremony was held Wednesday morning at City Hall in Fargo honoring the heroic actions taken by first responders on July 14 and in the days following the fatal police ambush that took the life of Officer Jake Wallin and critically wounded two other officers and a civilian.
“Winston Churchill famously said, ‘Fear is a reaction, courage is a decision.’ On July 14, a lot of people in our department and our public safety colleagues decided to be courageous. They decided to be brave and to work through the trauma to do what needed to be done,” said Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski.
Officers Tyler Hawes and Andrew Dotas were each honored with the Law Enforcement Purple Heart, an award given to sworn members seriously injured in the line of duty.
Officer Zach Robinson received the medal of honor, the department’s highest honor which has only ever been given to two other officers, both posthumously – Wallin and Jason Moser, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute in 2016.
“This award is bestowed upon an officer who distinguishes himself by an act above and beyond the call of duty involving extreme risks to their life. And there certainly was extreme risk. If you were an oddsmaker looking at this situation, you wouldn’t bet on the pistol versus the rifle. But oddsmakers don’t know the integrity, the character, the resiliency, and the courage of Zach Robinson,” Zibolski said.
Robinson engaged the heavily-armed 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat in a nearly two minute-long gunfight after Barakat ambushed Wallin, Dotas, and Hawes during a routine traffic stop. Robinson disabled Barakat’s .223 -caliber rifle with a difficult shot from his own 9mm handgun from about 75 feet away, then shot and killed Barakat after first ordering him to drop the gun 16 times.
Six firefighters received Letters of Commendation from the Fargo Fire Department for their lifesaving actions as the shooting ended – Captain Everett Patterson and firefighters Erich Christlieb and Justin Phillippi from Engine 805 and Captain Nate Adams and firefighters Jack Cuchna and Ross Jones from Engine 802. Patterson, Christlieb, and Phillippi also received Medals of Valor from the Fargo Police.
“Undeterred by the chaos, they bravely tended to the wounded embodying the essence of their calling. Their swift and decisive actions undoubtedly saved lives, serving as a testament to the rigorous training and unwavering commitment that defines our firefighting community,” said Fargo Fire Chief Steve Dirksen.
Several other officers were honored with Distinguished Service Medals for their work in the aftermath of the shooting, including serving as liaisons with the families of the impacted officers and guarding the injured officers in the hospital: Sergeant Nick Kjonaas and officers Lane Anderson, Lacey Bunkelman, Shelby Layman, Paul Nelson, Greg Schlangen, and Jeff Ward.
Comments