A Syrian refugee who killed Fargo, North Dakota, Police Officer Jake Wallin, 23 years old, and critically injured two other officers and a bystander this month had plotted a mass shooting in the city’s downtown, law enforcement officials revealed.
As Breitbart News reported, 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat shot and killed Wallin on July 14 in an ambush in Fargo, where he fired 60 rounds of ammunition from a rifle mounted in the back of his vehicle following a crash in which he was not involved.
Barakat also critically injured Officers Tyler Hawes and Andrew Dotas, along with bystander Karlee Koswick who was involved in the crash that Barakat scoped out for the ambush on officers.
All three remain recovering from their injuries in the hospital. Late last week, Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said Haws and Dotas were able to stand for the first time since the shooting.
Officer Zach Robinson, who had responded with the other officers to Koswick’s crash, shot and killed Barakat before he could kill anyone else.
From left to right: Officers Jake Wallin, Andrew Dotas, Tyler Hawes, and Zach Robinson. (Photos via Fargo Police Department)
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley now reveals how Barakat first arrived in the United States and what he had likely plotted before the deadly police ambush.
Barakat arrived in the U.S. from Syria in 2012 as part of former President Barack Obama’s massive wave of Syrian refugees, where nearly 20,000 were admitted from October 2011 to December 2016. Eventually, Barakat gained a green card, allowing him to permanently reside in the country. In 2019, Barakat was allowed to become a naturalized American citizen.
According to Wrigley, Barakat likely planned a mass shooting event in downtown Fargo, as a forensic search of his computer showed he last searched for “mass casualty events” and an article about thousands attending the city’s downtown street fair.
“It is clear that this individual was a calculated, insidious, murderous individual dead set on hurting and killing as many people as possible,” Zibolski said of Barakat. “He had the intent, he had the commitment, and he had the means.”
Barakat’s motives remain unclear, officials said.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
