Authorities suspect Fargo shooter planned mass shooting

The North Dakota attorney general claimed that Mohamad Barakat had a full arsenal of weapons and ammunition at his home.

Authorities suspect that Mohamad Barakat, who killed a police officer in Fargo, North Dakota, was planning a mass shooting. Barakat was killed in a shooting last week and two other officers and a civilian were wounded.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said an arsenal of weapons. including four handguns and three long-range rifles. ammunition and parts to make explosives were found at Barakat's home. He further reported that the killer searched for terms such as "explosive ammo," "kill fast" and "mass shooting events" on the internet.

The weapon Barakat used was rigged with a binary trigger, a device that speeds up firing, which made it difficult for the officers to act quickly. "None of the officers even had so much as an opportunity to turn, crouch, to grab for their service weapon - nothing. Anything you hit, you hit twice, because you have the binary trigger," Wrigley explained.

The North Dakota attorney general stated that, because the investigation is still ongoing, footage of the shooting taken with police body cameras could not be released.