Video shows Barakat encounter with deputy, weeks before deadly ambush in Fargo

FARGO (KVRR) – We’re getting a look at a law enforcement encounter with the man who gunned down three Fargo police officers, one fatally, and an innocent bystander, recorded about two months before the deadly ambush.

The bodycam video from May 4, 2023 was obtained from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

A deputy responded to a private shooting range in response to someone complaining about noise they thought might be a cannon.

Barakat told the deputy he was shooting exploding targets, which he’s mixed himself, using Tannerite.

Barakat agreed to stop shooting, and asked the deputy what to do, because the Tannerite was now active and illegal to transport. The video wraps up with the deputy leaving after Barakat tells him he will pour the mixed explosive out on the ground instead of transporting it.

About two months later, Barakat died in a shootout after ambushing police who were responding to a traffic crash on South 25th St. in Fargo.

Police found multiple guns, ammunition, Tannerite and propane tanks in Barakat’s vehicle and apartment.