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Fargo cop killed in shootout was a Minnesota native, new on the job

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Jake Wallin didn’t want to find himself sitting in an office, wondering at the end of his workdays whether he’d made a difference.

To serve his community, the 23-year-old National Guard member and native of St. Michael, Minn., opted for a career in law enforcement.

On Friday, Wallin was killed in a shootout in Fargo that left two other officers wounded. A fourth officer killed the gunman.

Police have given few details about the shooting beyond saying there was no known motive. The Associated Press said Sunday that authorities released no new information, and the Star Tribune could not reach Wallin’s family for comment.

In an online video posted by police Saturday, Wallin talked about his motivation.

“Throughout my entire life I’ve always wanted to work in some sort of position that had purpose behind my job,” the young officer said. “Police officer is always what kind of came to me. I’ve tried other careers but I came right back into law enforcement.”

In a comment that likely referred to his service with the Minnesota National Guard, Wallin added: “I’m from St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota, and I’ve been to more countries than I have been states.”

At a news conference Saturday, Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said police and fire officials were responding to a “routine” traffic crash on a busy street Friday afternoon when a gunman opened fire on them. Authorities identified the shooter as Mohamad Barakat of Fargo.

Zibolski described the first few minutes of the shootout as “very chaotic.” He said firefighters and an ambulance crew were essential in preventing additional fatalities.

As soon as the firing stopped, he said, “firefighters bounced out, and they were applying first aid immediately to our officers.”

Zibolski said their quick work on the wounded men “probably had a very significant impact on their survival.”

The city has said little about Barakat or the gun he used. Zibolski said he believed police previously had contact with Barakat “but not anything significant.”

The chief said it does not appear that the gunman was involved in the crash that drew officers to the scene. But he indicated authorities were investigating whether the shooting was a planned ambush.

“The first thing we always want to know in a situation like this is, ‘Why?’ ” he said. “Why would somebody do this?”

Fargo police said Wallin became an officer on April 19 and was in field training at the time of death.

The North Wright County Today website reported that Wallin was a 2018 graduate of St. Michael-Albertville High School, where he played linebacker on the football team. He later graduated from Alexandria Technical and Community College and attended the American Military University.

The Minnesota National Guard said in a statement that Wallin began serving in December 2017 as a cannon crewman and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq from November 2020 to July 2021.

“The citizen soldiers and airmen of the Minnesota National Guard extend our deepest condolences to the family members and friends of Sgt. Jake Wallin,” said its adjutant general, Army Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke. “He lived a life of service — not only to his state and nation but his community.”

At Saturday’s news conference, Zibolski called for a moment of silence to honor Wallin.

“He was a member of our family. He meant a lot to the department,” the chief said.

Shortly after the shooting, authorities, including FBI agents, converged on a residential area about 2 miles away and evacuated residents of an apartment building to gather what they said was related evidence.

Officer Tyler Hawes, who was wounded in the shootout, attended the University of Minnesota Morris and was Wallin’s classmate in the Fargo Police Academy. They became officers on the same day and were training with six-year veteran Andrew Dotas when they responded to Friday’s crash.

On Saturday, Hawes and Dotas were reported in critical but stable condition. Zibolski said they were in “good spirits” but had significant recovery ahead of them.

No updates on their conditions were provided Sunday.

A fourth officer, Zach Robinson, shot and killed Barakat, Zibolski said. A 25-year-old bystander also was injured in the shooting, though authorities haven’t said who shot her. A hospital spokesman said Sunday that she was in fair condition.

In the video posted by Fargo police, Wallin displayed an easy smile that suggested the sense of humor his police chief referenced during the new conference Saturday.

The young officer said his desire to serve came from wanting “to have purpose behind my job each and every day. … I want to be doing something that I can tell myself at the end of the day I made a difference somehow.”

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on the day of Wallin’s funeral, which has yet to be announced.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.





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Star Tribune

Augustana football takes over first place in NSIC

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Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.

Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.

Div. I-AA

North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.

South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.

Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.

Div. III

Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.



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Timberwolves win home opener over Toronto Raptors

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After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.

Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.

The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.

Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.

Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.

But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.

Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.

Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.



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Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city

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NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.

”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”

The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.

Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.

Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.

“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”

While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.



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