Newly unsealed documents reveal “mass shooter” tip, other details about Fargo police shooter Barakat

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - Newly unsealed documents reveal new details about the man who ambushed and shot Fargo police officers back in July 2023.

Mohamad Barakat shot and killed Fargo Police officer Jake Wallin and seriously injured officers Andrew Dodas and Tyler Hawes, along with a bystander named Karlee Koswick, before being shot and killed by Fargo officer Zach Robinson.

The newly unsealed documents include an affidavit in support of a search warrant, filed on May 4, 2023, just two months before the deadly shooting. It shows that the Cass County Sheriff’s Office was alerted by the Cass County Wildlife Club that Barakat had been using the explosive Tannerite at a gun range. According to the paperwork, Barakat told officials he had been stockpiling the chemical for personal use. Following the July shooting, police found canisters of Tannerite in Barakat’s car, which law enforcement officials have suggested could have been used for a mass casualty event he had been planning.

The affidavit also shows the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous tip from a woman in Minnesota back in 2021. She said Barakat had been uttering racial and LGBTQ slurs, had many weapons, was mentally unstable, and she was worried he would become a mass shooter. Documents show members of the Fargo Police Metro Street Crimes Unit did find a number of firearms and ammunition at Barakat’s home, but he claimed he had no intention of harming anyone.

There’s also a newly released affidavit for a search of Barakat’s home and apartment following the shooting. It reiterates what officials have said was pulled from his home: three long guns, a pistol, ammunition, a modified trigger for an AR-style rifle, and more. Members of the Red River Regional Bomb Squad detonated two propane tanks and a homemade grenade, found in Barakat’s vehicle.