FARGO — A Fargo man who killed a police officer last week searched online for articles about mass casualty incidents and the downtown street fair, suggesting to authorities he intended to open fire on thousands of people attending the event.
Investigators revealed more information Friday, July 21, during a nearly two-hour news conference about 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat, the gunman who killed 23-year-old Fargo Police Officer Jake Wallin on Friday, July 14, at 25th Street and Ninth Avenue South in Fargo.
Barakat also seriously injured officers Tyler Hawes and Andrew Dotas, as well as bystander Karlee Koswick, who recently moved to Fargo.
Koswick and the two injured officers remain in the hospital. Dotas and Hawes were able to stand for the first time since the shooting on Thursday, Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said.
"He took that bullet that someone else in our community might have otherwise taken," the chief said of Wallin. "Andrew Dotas, Tyler Hawes took other bullets that other people in our community would have otherwise likely taken."
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Officer Zach Robinson, who also responded to the routine crash before Barakat opened fire, shot and killed the gunman. Robinson was justified in killing Barakat, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said Wednesday in crediting the officer with ending the threat of harm to others.
Wrigley also said Robinson was the “last man standing” between Barakat and a mass shooting in downtown Fargo.
The FBI found a computer in Barakat’s Bluemont Village Apartments unit, 2801 23rd Ave. S., Wrigley said Friday at Fargo City Hall. Barakat’s search history revealed he looked up “mass casualty events” and how to cause certain injuries, according to the attorney general.
The last article that appeared in his browser history was a KVRR article titled “Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair.”
Zibolski called Barakat an “evil individual.” Wallin, Dotas, Hawes and Robinson prevented a mass shooting and are heroes, the chief said.
“It is clear that this individual was a calculated, insidious, murderous individual dead set on hurting and killing as many people as possible” the chief said of Barakat. “He had the intent, he had the commitment and he had the means.”
Authorities said they don’t know why Barakat was planning the attack downtown or why he stopped to shoot officers Friday afternoon.
"In regards to motive, if we had clear evidence of that, we would share it," North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said.
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The FBI is investigating whether Barakat had co-conspirators, Schneider said. At this time, he said, there is no known threat to the public.
It's possible Barakat was waiting for an opportunity to create a distraction for officers, which would take their attention away from downtown, Wrigley said.
“We don’t see additional threat emanating from this incident,” the attorney general said Friday. Schneider and Zibolski echoed that sentiment.
The ambush
At 2:43 p.m. on July 14, Koswick’s vehicle struck another vehicle that had multiple people in it.
Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes arrived at 2:49 p.m. It was minutes later that Barakat first appeared in surveillance footage from Big Top Bingo, Wrigley said. He was northbound on 25th Street.
Barakat turned off the street, circled the block and parked near the crash for a few minutes before leaving, crossing Ninth Avenue, and parking in the Big Top Bingo parking lot, Wrigley said.
When he left that lot, he continued circling the area and was off surveillance footage for a few minutes before parking for the last time in a parking lot adjacent to the crash.
At 3:03 p.m., Robinson and Wallin arrived at the scene, Wrigley said, and the southernmost vehicle involved in the crash parked one spot away from Barakat shortly after.
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Barakat had spray-painted the back windows of his car black, preventing anyone from seeing inside, Wrigley said.
The occupants of the vehicle got out and began taking photos of the damage to their car, Wrigley said. Koswick moved to the sidewalk, and her vehicle remained on the street.
Wallin, Dotas and Hawes began approaching the vehicle next to Barakat’s, Wrigley said, and they could not see the long rifle next to the gunman on the seat. Robinson remained on the street, on the far side of Koswick’s car from Barakat.
When the officers were 10 to 15 feet from his vehicle, Barakat opened fire on the officers through his window, Wrigley said. With a double magazine, he had the chance to fire 60 rounds rapidly.
“It appears Fargo Police Officer Jake Wallin is the first struck,” Wrigley said. “But in rapid succession, Dotas and Hawes are hit.”
In that moment, “I don’t know if there is a more lonely person on Earth than Officer Robinson,” Wrigley said.
Robinson, with two magazines each containing 17 bullets, began exchanging fire with Barakat after the other three officers were shot, the attorney general said. Barakat was not hit in the first barrage and exited his vehicle.
Koswick tried to run away, but Barakat shifted his attention from Robinson to fire at her, striking her twice, Wrigley said.
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“She’s down immediately, severely injured,” Wrigley said.
Robinson then shot Barakat and the long rifle, disabling the gun and knocking the shooter to the ground, Wrigley said. The officer gave Barakat 16 instructions to drop his gun as he approached the man on the ground.
Robinson shot Barakat again when he did not comply, then radioed in that officers were down, Wrigley said. Robinson walked around Barakat’s vehicle and gave a final command for the shooter to drop the gun before he “neutralizes” Barakat, Wrigley said.
Another officer arrived on the scene and, under Robinson’s direction, handcuffed Barakat, who was still moving, Wrigley said.
“It is difficult to overstate … how outgunned Officer Robinson was,” Wrigley said. “But he was never outmanned.”
Preparations
Authorities looking through Barakat’s computer and phone found he had no social media presence and little interaction with other people, Wrigley said.
He has family in the United States, the attorney general said, adding they are not local and did not frequently communicate with Barakat.
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His search history included “mass shooting events” and ways to injure people, Wrigley said. “The searches, I know, go back a few years,” Wrigley said, at least to 2018.
Barakat also searched for “area events … where there are crowds,” Wrigley said.
His last search was at 10:30 p.m. on July 13, when he read a KVRR article titled “Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair,” Wrigley said.
“There wouldn’t have been enough emergency personnel within a three-state area” if Barakat had continued to the street fair and carried out his apparent plan, Wrigley said.
Barakat was "practicing his shooting skills" in the hours before the ambush, Wrigley said.
Surveillance footage showed Barakat leaving his apartment, which is about 2 miles south of the crash site, while pulling a suitcase behind him on the afternoon of July 14. Authorities later found that suitcase to be filled with weapons.
Wrigley said Barakat had no way of knowing the crash happened before he drove up to it.
Before the shooting, Barakat loaded his vehicle with three long rifles, four handguns, two knives, three gas canisters, two propane tanks filled with Tannerite and more than 1,800 .223-caliber bullets. Investigators also found a homemade hand grenade and multiple magazines in Barakat’s tactical vest, which was in the car.
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Two of the rifles had scopes, and one had a binary trigger, Wrigley said. That trigger, which was on the gun he used to shoot at officers, has the option to fire one bullet when the trigger is pulled and a second round when the trigger is released.
Wrigley called the trigger "purposeless."
"Some of my agents were commenting to me that if you get pretty good at that, and you get the rhythm of that, you've made your weapon into a fully operable machine gun," Wrigley said in describing the motion of pulling and releasing the trigger.
He described the rifles as AR- and AK-style, also known as assault rifles.
After the shooting, the bomb squad was called in, and the explosive-detecting dog alerted on both Barakat’s vehicle and at his apartment.
The propane tanks filled with Tannerite, an explosive commonly used for target practice, were detonated by authorities, Wrigley said. There was enough explosive material to "disintegrate" the propane tanks, he said.
Hand grenade components, rifles and "an array of live ammunition" were found in Barakat's apartment, Wrigley said.
While investigators do not yet know where Barakat obtained his weapons and explosives, Wrigley said they were purchased legally.
Despite a lack of bulletproof vest, helmet or other protections, authorities have reason to believe Barakat thought he would survive, Wrigley said, noting the shooter had taken measures to determine if anyone entered his apartment in his absence.
More about the shooter
Barakat came to the United States in 2012 from Syria seeking asylum, Wrigley said. Schneider said the FBI is investigating what Barakat did before coming to the U.S.
He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2019, the attorney general said.
The Forum traced Barakat's Fargo connection back to at least 2018, when he received a speeding ticket. The ticket had a Fargo address on it.
Barakat worked off and on at different jobs, Wrigley said.
Investigators are reviewing all records about Barakat, including financial, he said.
Barakat had some interaction with law enforcement, Zibolski said, though it was not "significant." Wrigley said there was a cooking fire Barakat reported at his home.
The attorney general also mentioned someone filed a Guardian report "some years back" on Barakat, though he did not elaborate on why.
"Information that we have from our federal partners says he was not on the terrorist watch list, but there was this Guardian report," Wrigley said. "I'm not going to say much about it except it is not, we are told, about a threat of violence or an act of this nature or anything along these lines."
The FBI Guardian website describes the system as a way for law enforcement entities to "share and track potential threats, suspicious activity, and cyber, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, or criminal activity."
Schneider declined to say if Barakat was on the FBI's radar. He also declined to discuss the guardian report.
"Essentially, it's a way for the public to engage local law enforcement and notify them about things of concern," Schneider said.
Police found a Quran in Barakat's apartment, Wrigley said. The attorney general said law enforcement has established no ties to the Muslim community in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Wrigley cautioned people about making assumptions about Barakat's religious beliefs.
"At this point in the investigation, I find his Muslim faith no more notable than my Lutheran faith," Wrigley said.
He asked anyone with information about Barakat or the shooting to call the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations at 701-328-5500.
Forum staff C.S. Hagen, Robin Huebner, Paige Naughton, Melissa Van Der Stad and Kaity Young contributed to this report.
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