Screen capture by Boch via YouTube.

Cops investigating a fender bender in Fargo, North Dakota came under fire last month as they responded to reports of a traffic accident. In the initial volley of rounds fired by Mohamad Barakat from an AK rifle struck three officers. One, a 23-year-old rookie, died.

Screen capture by Boch via YouTube.

Despite the fact that Barakat apparently had bigger things in mind, the American mainstream press mostly covered the story in the days that followed. With a pillow. Now, however, police have released bodycam footage of the shooting and police response.

Screen capture by Boch via YouTube.

As the incident unfolded, a fourth officer in the roadway saved the day. He took cover and did the only polite thing available to him: He radioed for help and then shot back at Barakat. Using his sidearm, he successfully engaged the would-be mass murderer who was armed with an AK.

All in all, Officer Zach Robinson fired at Barakat 31 times. Even though mortally wounded, Barakat kept fighting until Robinson moved around the suspect’s vehicle to where he could see the suspect. At that point, Barakat still tried hard to bring his gun up again and Robinson fired some anchor shots putting the killer down for good.

Screen capture by Boch via YouTube

Here’s the bodycam video that was released . . .

More information was available at the press conference led by North Dakota’s Attorney General.

Evidence suggests Barakat was on his way to a street fair in the city, possibly to carry out a mass shooting. Perhaps he thought an opportunity to ambush three or four cops in one place was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Much more from BizPacReview . . .

Hair-raising bodycam footage of a fearless Fargo police officer stopping a would-be mass murderer in the middle of a busy street was released by North Dakota’s Attorney General Drew Wrigley on Thursday, leading many to wonder why they had never heard about the July 14th event that left one officer dead and three people wounded, including two more officers and a fleeing bystander.

Police were responding to a routine car accident when Syrian gunman Mohamad Barakat, 37, opened fire on them in a deadly ambush.

Barakat was allegedly on his way to a Fargo street fair, evidence suggests, with enough explosives in his car to create a national tragedy, the Daily Mail reports.

Officer Zach Robinson’s bodycam footage shows the moment shots from Barakat’s weapon rang out…

According to Wrigley, investigators later discovered “guns, a homemade grenade, more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition, three containers full of gasoline and two propane tanks — one completely filled and the other half-filled with homemade explosive materials,” The Associated Press reports…

The past five years of Barakat’s internet queries revealed such searches as “kill fast,” “explosive ammo,” “incendiary rounds,”  and “mass shooting events,” authorities said.

Most disturbing among the queries was one for “area events where there are crowds.” The search led to a news article with the headline, “Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair,” just one day before the shooting.

Based on the available evidence, it appears Officer Robinson probably stopped a mass murder terror attack. Fargo needs to award Officer Robinson a key to the city.

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64 COMMENTS

  1. Round up the jihadis and forcibly expel them from the country. Solve the problem once and for all.

    • This is Earth. Population 8 billion+ and counting. Killing is what we have always done. Get used to it.

    • Follow “Blackjack” Pershing’s example from the Philippines. Bury the perp in a pigskin. He won’t get into heaven or paradise dressed like that.

      Cue lil’d’s diatribe about my lack of cultural sensitivity.

    • It would solve the jidhadi problem. It would open a can of worms with otherwise friendly mohammedan nations… and not solve the mass shooting issue.
      Obviously with what he had stashed away, simply taking his rifle out of the equation wouldnt have solved the problem.

  2. “Despite the fact that Barakat apparently had bigger things in mind, the American mainstream press mostly covered the story in the days that followed. With a pillow.”

    “Until it stops moving.” My favorite David Burge (Iowahawk) tweet!

    And it just goes to prove asshole dacian’s contention that anyone with a popgun has no chance in a duel with a shooter armed with a semi-auto rifle … umm, wait a second …

    • Man with no name,

      Important note: the Arab attacker had a FULL-AUTO AK-47. Thus in this case it was a semi-auto handgun versus a full-auto AK-47 rifle and the police officer with nothing more than his semi-auto handgun prevailed.

      • “police officer with nothing more than his semi-auto handgun prevailed.”

        In spite of the fact that said handgun was clearly in a caliber of less than adequate power…

        Quite a bit more than just a key to the city is called for.

      • An illegal full auto AK an grenades… hmmmmmmmmm on doesnt buy them at your friendly local gunstore.
        One wonders where all that came from? AND WHY the delay in getting a JULY 7TH event on the news MORE THAN A MONTH LATER??

        • The mainstream media covers stories like this….
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          …….with a pillow. That pillow is removed once the story stops moving.

  3. Pistol against a rifle and he still managed to pull it off. 31 rounds. If he had had a .45 he may have run out of ammo before he hit the target. One mag in the gun and two on the belt seems to be a police standard.

    • If he had a .45 the perps car would’ve exploded and ended the confrontation after a couple of rounds of return fire, would’ve been an excessive use of police brutality to bring that much firepower into the equation. So says the legend of .45 anyway.

      • “So says the legend of .45 anyway.”

        Legend? It’s Gospel!

        Just pointing a .45 ACP gun at a car has been proven to make the car explode, all on it’s own, out of sheer respect for the .45 ACP God.

        So sayeth the shepherd, so sayeth the flock… 🙂

        • Don’t know about blowing up cars but I have seen grown men completely evacuate the contents of their bowels and their bladder just from having that big bore bitch shoved in their faces…

      • Never blew up a vehicle but I sent several adversarial indigenous personnel to that Great Rice Paddy in the Sky during my tenure in Southeast Asia with a 25 year old 1911… And it did NOT require 31 rounds (fukin 9mm) to get the job done with that .45 ACP… So sayeth the flock indeed…

    • jwm,

      “One mag in the gun and two on the belt seems to be a police standard.”

      I have no idea if there is a police standard or, if there is, what the standard is.

      If I were a patrolman/woman, I would most likely keep one magazine in the gun and FOUR on my duty belt. And there are two reasons for that. First, you could easily burn through almost all of that if you were engaging two or three attackers, especially if they only had handguns. Second, you may want to proactively change magazines before you run out of ammunition on your current magazine–and that could easily mean changing magazines after firing only 10 to 12 of your 15 to 17 rounds in each magazine for example.

      For the uninitiated, if you shoot until your magazine is empty, your slide locks in the open position and reloading requires inserting a loaded magazine AND releasing your slide lock. On the other hand, if you simply drop your current magazine before it is empty, your slide is fully forward (in battery) and all you have to do is insert a full magazine (no need to unlock your slide). Also important: your magazine could go empty at a really BAD time whereas you could proactively change your magazine at a better time.

  4. There was news coverage here in Mn. since the slain officer, Jake Wallin, was from the Lakes Area up north. Neither my brother in Mt. nor one in Ms. heard anything about it. The major networks downplayed the Syrian National and intended mass shooting angle to the story, which died on the vine after the funeral.

  5. I believe Officer Robinson landed 21 of those 31 shots fired, pretty impressive considering the perp had a vehicle for cover.

      • The appropriate step up from 9mm is to a centerfire rifle, handguns are not very good at stopping determined attackers regardless of the caliber.

        • 10 better than 9, period.

          And the XTP in 185gr .45ACP are downright explosive if you push them some (~1000fps).. What they do to nuisance possums and dillos makes cleanups time-consuming. Close range only, tho.

  7. 31 rounds. I’ve not read that Barakat definitely wore body armor. Seems obvious he did, but sometimes the obvious just ain’t so. How many rounds actually hit the perp, as opposed to rounds hitting armor, pavement, backstops like vehicles or trees? I mean, he was obviously hit and injured very early in the exchange, but how many wounds did he suffer?

    There was lots of time for Robinson to wonder if he was trapped in a nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from. “The bastid just won’t DIE!”

  8. The killer’s demographic profile was not appropriate for MSM coverage and socialist-democrat political attribution.

    • Because they want to portray the wannabe jihadi as a victim of police violence.

      Cue the protest rally, rioting, and demands for reparations.

  10. The past five years of Barakat’s internet queries revealed such searches as “kill fast,” “explosive ammo,” “incendiary rounds,” and “mass shooting events,” authorities said.

    Waiting periods, 1 gun a month limits, ammo purchasing limits. Meet Mohamed’s 5 year plan.

    • “Waiting periods, 1 gun a month limits, ammo purchasing limits.”

      All I have to say is, I’m glad my home is on a concrete slab… 🙂

    • Still no Manifesto from Nashville but we know Five Years worth of Internet searches?
      GFY Bureaucrats…

  11. “Your comment is awaiting moderation”

    The killer’s demographic profile was not appropriate for MSM coverage and socialist-democrat political attribution.

  12. He needed to advance rapidly after the shooter was down put security rounds in; then immediately render aid to his fallen cops. So much wasted time.

    • Wasted time? On Robinson’s part? Seriously? Which actions that Robinson took were wasteful of time? I don’t see it. Perhaps you think that Robinson should have boldly strolled into Barakat’s field of fire, and walked up to put a point blank shot into Barakat’s face? If Robinson had been that stupid, he would almost certainly have been another casualty.

      • Paul,

        Notice Badgerman’s statement that Robinson should have advanced, “… rapidly AFTER the attacker was DOWN …”.

        Badgerman did NOT suggest that Robinson should have ran into the attacker’s field of fire while the attacker was still up and firing.

  13. Condolences to the families of the injured and fallen police. On the other hand the perp received the justice he so rightfully deserved.

  14. There is really an enormous chasm in our society. Between those who have been robbed or seen a robbery, and or knew someone who is a violent crime victim.

    Verses those who never had a criminal rob them at gun point.

    It’s as if for some americans, crime only happens “on the other side of planet earth.”
    The stores they shop at. The neighborhoods they live in. The schools they attend, the places where they work. The routes they take to work. Those areas are never subject to criminal activity.

    So they don’t understand why anyone would need a gun???
    And those people still believe the cops will be there to save them.

    .The many people who live in these “red Communist areas” of the United States really are clueless.

    “National divorce”

    It’s time. And it doesn’t have to be violent.

    • It doesn’t have to be but it will be.

      The blues need death and destruction to further perpetuate their victimhood ideology.
      If a split is amicable they’ll have nobody to blame for their continued collapse.
      If a split is violent, likely triggered by their own actions, they can blame their collapse on the reds. They always need an external oppressor even as they oppress themselves. They’ll never change the ways that lead to their suffering they’ll just blame others for the suffering they endure.

    • Chris T in KY,

      What you are seeing in our nation is the rise of evil and there is no amicable nor peaceful way to somehow “divorce” or “move on”.

      That is the sad reality.

    • Communist won’t stop… Terminator-style.
      Even if they defeated all of the Real American Spirit except for a stronghold in, say, Key West. The Communist Bass Terds would lose sleep because their destruction wasn’t complete.

      Burn it all to ash, and then rule over the ash pile

  15. It does indeed matter what one is armed with as much as it matters what amount of intestinal fortitude one has to deal with violence. I.E. Had the officer used an AR varient instead of a handgun the perp would have been more inclined to put the gun down.

    • I would be interested in how you arrived at that decision not being on the scene and knowing what was going through either the officers mind at the time and the perps. You must be a good mind reader?

    • Debbie: Had the m u z z i e been shot with a rifle of ANY kind he would have ceased much sooner. Vest or no vest.
      Lots of questions to be asked and lessons to be learned. It’s obvious he didnt get a full-auto AK and grenades from his local gun store.
      Who sent and bank-rolled this guy? How did that illegal stuff even get into the country? He’s too dead to water-board the answers out of him.

      • As was pointed out to me earlier, and I have since seen quoted by a news source — the shooter had a binary trigger installed into his AK; it wasn’t fully auto.

        Listening to the video, it sure sounds like it was, but echos and LEO returning fire is confusing.

        I can’t even tell how many shots “The Rifleman” fires in the intro — is it 12 or 13?

    • Geoff PR,

      I looked into that event. It happened in a very small town in a semi-rural region of the state where the violent crime rate is basically nil. It just goes to show that violent crime can happen anywhere, any time.

      By the way I think the local prosecutor should give the Good Samaritan a pass if nothing else because the Good Samaritan kept complete control of his six-pack of beer the entire time that he was engaging the armed robber.

      • The shooter did kill a bottle of liquor. He needs to held liable for that. The cost of the bottle should be deducted from his reward. That will motivate him to spend more time at the range, I think.

  21. I feel so bad for the families and loves ones of those officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice that day. I’m glad Officer Robinson lived, and I am sorry he will likely have to deal with a great deal of trauma.

    At least the dirtbag won’t be a burden on the rest of society.

  22. 31 rounds to stop this bad guy… good thing he decided to shoot it out with the cops, who don’t have magazine restrictions like regular people in some states

  23. A pistol is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never (had stored in the trunk) in the first place.

  24. The takeaway is don’t get caught in the crossfire of all this gang-on-gang violence. One hit is followed by a retribution hit and so on ad infinitum Additionally, the gang which is equipped with all the military-grade ordinance and hardware is one to watch out for, they are all bastards I hear.

  25. At 54:51 in the video, despite having seen the video and its pretty darn clear what the context was for all the officers shots – a stupid media question asking about why the officer fired so many times.

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