Mohamad Barakat’s car was also “loaded” with three long weapons, four handguns, and a belt with loaded ammo.
At a news conference on Wednesday, North Dakota officials said that the person who killed one Fargo Police Department officer and hurt two others used 1,800 rounds of ammo, a bomb, and other explosives to fire a “murderous barrage of fire.”
Officer Zachary Robinson, 31, shot and killed Mohamad Barakat, 37, the police said. Officer Jake Wallin, who was 23 years old, was killed, and officers Andrew Dotas, who was 28, and Tyler Hawes, who was 22, were seriously hurt. A woman was also shot, but the police don’t know who did it.
Fargo’s police chief said what Barakat was trying to do wasn’t clear.
“After Mohamad Barakat’s murderous, unprovoked attack, Officer Zach Robinson’s use of deadly force was reasonable, necessary, justified, and legal in every way,” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told reporters. “Mohamad Barakat engaged in a dreadful attack. … He let loose a barrage of fire that could only be called deadly. But this doesn’t mean it wasn’t right. It was, in fact.”
Wrigley said Barakat’s car was “loaded” with 1,800 rounds of ammo, three long rifles, four handguns, gas tanks, a belt with loaded clips in every pocket, and a live homemade hand grenade.
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Officials shared a picture showing eight magazines had stickers or decals of the American flag.
Wrigley said that Barakat also had a “shooting vest” that wasn’t waterproof but had rounds in every pocket and a bag full of guns that he rolled out of his apartment right before getting into his car. No one said whether or not Barakat had any safety gear.
“If you look at how many bullets the shooter had in his car, you can see that he was planning to cause more trouble in our community,” said Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney. Police Chief David Zibolski said that Barakat did not know who he was going after.
Wrigley said that Robinson showed “absolute courage under fire” when he got out of his car and started shooting at Barakat. One of the shots Robinson fired “incapacitated” Barakat’s gun, leaving about 20 rounds that could have been used to shoot other people.
“We’ve lost three officers,” he said. Send everybody,'” Wrigley said. “And they sent everyone.”
Barakat was hurt at some point and was on the ground, but Wrigley said that he rearmed himself with a 9 mm handgun that he kept waving around while hiding behind his car. Robinson kept telling Barakat to drop his gun, but he didn’t listen. Robinson kept coming closer and gave him one last order.
“‘Put the gun down,’ he doesn’t. “The officer took care of the threat,” the attorney general said.
Shortly after the killing, officials, including the FBI, gathered in a neighborhood about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away and forced the residents of an apartment building to leave so they could look for what they said was connected evidence. Wrigley said on Wednesday that more guns were found at the flat by the police.
The FBI and the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation are still looking into what happened.
Robinson was put on paid administrative leave while the state looked into his use of force, which is how the Fargo police department works. Tim Mahoney, the mayor of Fargo, said that he expects a report about Robinson’s acts to come out in the next few days.
