Law enforcement officials have uncovered that a Syrian refugee, who had recently shot and killed a Fargo, North Dakota police officer, and critically wounded two other officers and a bystander, had planned a mass shooting in the city’s downtown area.
As Breitbart News reported, Mohamad Barakat, aged 37, had fatally shot 23-year-old Officer Jake Wallin and seriously injured Officers Tyler Hawes and Andrew Dotas, as well as bystander Karlee Koswick. The shooting occurred on July 14 following a car crash in which Barakat was not involved but used as a setting for his ambush, during which he fired 60 rounds of ammunition from a rifle in his vehicle.
While Hawes, Dotas, and Koswick are currently recovering in the hospital, Officer Zach Robinson managed to neutralize Barakat before he could inflict more harm.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley disclosed how Barakat had initially come to the U.S. and the evidence that led to the uncovering of his potential mass shooting plot. Barakat arrived from Syria during former President Barack Obama’s administration, when nearly 20,000 Syrian refugees were granted entry into the U.S. between October 2011 and December 2016. He eventually received a green card and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2019.
Wrigley shared that forensic analysis of Barakat’s computer revealed his last search was for “mass casualty events,” along with an article about a well-attended street fair in downtown Fargo, indicating his potential target.
Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski described Barakat as a “calculated, insidious, murderous individual dead set on hurting and killing as many people as possible.” Zibolski added that Barakat “had the intent, he had the commitment, and he had the means,” although his motivations are still uncertain.