FARGO (KFGO) – Newly-reviewed footage from body cams during the July 14 ambush of Fargo Police responding to a fender bender shows that the officer who was killed in the attack was able to un-holster his gun and was a “nanosecond” away from getting a round off before he was gunned down.
Investigators initially believed, based on the first available surveillance footage, that 23-year-old Officer Jake Wallin was the first of three officers to be shot in the initial barrage of gunfire unleashed by Mohamad Barakat, the shooter being described as a “lone wolf,” and that none of the three officers had time to get to their service weapons in the attack. But North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley says newly-reviewed footage from Wallin’s body cam paints a new picture.
“He (Wallin) was not the first struck. He was the third struck in this flurry,” Wrigley said.
Describing what Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents saw on the recording, Wrigley said Wallin was about a step and a half ahead of fellow Officers Tyler Hawes and Andrew Dotas as the three unknowingly walked toward the shooter, who was parked right next to the first vehicle involved in the crash. As the first shots were fired, Wrigley said Wallin “rapidly moves.”
“He then un-holsters his weapon, and he is lowering the weapon to fire on Barakat. He is a nanosecond away from being able to get a round off during this absolute savage ambush attack,” Wrigley said.
“Three months on the job, that he nearly got that shot off is just an incredible testament to both his military and his law enforcement training,” Wrigley said.
Wrigley revealed the new information on KFGO’s News & Views on Monday. He reiterated his belief that Barakat’s gun being equipped with a binary trigger that allows a gun to shoot at the rate of an automatic weapon was a central reason the officers did not have time to return fire.
Investigators say after the initial barrage, Officer Zachary Robinson – who was also responding to the crash but not standing with the other three when the shooting started – engaged in a two minute-long gun battle with Barakat, ordering the shooter 16 times to drop his weapon, before finally shooting and killing Barakat.
A funeral for Wallin was held Saturday in Pequot Lakes, Minn. Officers Dotas and Hawes were seriously injured in the shooting and remain in a Fargo hospital. A woman, 25-year-old Karlee Koswick, who was driving one of the cars involved in the unrelated crash was also seriously injured in the shooting.
Wrigley said the investigation continues to be active and there will be additional new information released as it progresses.
