Updates on the gunman and the anticipated mass casualty event

Fargo, North Dakota – Investigators are finally able to identify the perpetrator of the horrific attack on July 14 by his face.

A picture of Mohamad Barakat, 37, as well as several images of the items that investigators discovered inside his car have been made public. These items include numerous firearms, vests, knives, 1,800 live rounds of ammunition, three gas cans, two propane tanks, and a homemade grenade.

According to investigators, they have cause to think Barakat was traveling to the Downtown Fargo Street Fair based on his web search history.

“This individual was a calculated, insidious, murderous individual, who was set on hurting and killing as many as people as possible,” said Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski.

Barakat has been looking for mass casualty incidents since 2018. Investigators claim that he was looking for local activities more recently when he came across a news report about thousands of people attending the street fair’s opening day.

But Barakat was prevented from arriving there by the bravery and gallantry of the Fargo Police Department.

“Police officer Zach Robinson was indeed the last man standing in that blue line at the moment. What he was standing between was not just the horrible events that were unfolding there, but between the horrible events that Mohamad Barakat had planned, had envisioned planned, and intended.”

The Fargo Police Department is dealing with sadness after losing one of its own that day, but first responders saved many people’s lives in the neighborhood, according to officials.

“Zach Robinson obviously, without doubt, courageous. Courageous. The last man there to prevent more from happening. But all of our officers: Jake Wallin, likely the first person hit. That would seem to make a lot of sense based on his fatal injury. He took that bullet that someone else in our community might have otherwise taken,” Zibolski explains. “Andrew Dotas, Tyler Hawes took other bullets that other people in our community would have otherwise likely taken, so I don’t want it lost that all of those folks, including our firefighters who were out there in a very dangerous situation, did the very best they could to keep all of us safe,” said Police Chief Dave Zibolski.

According to Chief Zibolski, safety precautions for future public events are being evaluated based on particular events.

“To make sure that we’re doing everything we can to prevent harm to our community, allowing you to go out an enjoy our beautiful city, entertainment, spend time with your family without the fear of that type of activity occurring.”

You might see some of these adjustments when attending events, and some of the safety planning and strategies will take place behind the scenes, according to Zibolski. He reiterated that our neighborhood is safe and that law enforcement is doing all possible to keep everyone safe.

Syrian native Mohamed Barakat arrived in the US in 2012. In 2019, he obtained U.S. citizenship. According to the attorney general of North Dakota, Barakat appears to have acquired all of his weaponry legally and was not on any watch lists for terrorists.

Barakat held a number of occupations in the neighborhood, but detectives would not specify what they were. They claim he is hardly active on social media and doesn’t seem to be connected to the neighborhood’s Muslim population. Although Barakat has relatives in the country, they don’t reside nearby. According to investigators, his family has been informed of the circumstances.