North Dakota
Fargo officer killed in ambush remembered as ‘brave young man’
Jake Wallin was once a small boy who sought comfort in the arms of family, terrified of fireworks that lit up the sky. On Saturday, the Fargo police officer was remembered for growing up to be a military veteran and dedicated officer whose “final act of valor” was staring down the face of a man intent on bloodshed.
Wallin, 23, was killed July 14 when a man armed with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, multiple guns and explosives ambushed officers responding to a routine traffic crash. Two other officers and a civilian were wounded before a fourth officer returned fire, killing gunman Mohamad Barakat. Police said the actions of the fourth officer likely spared the city a bigger, bloodier attack.
Wallin, who had been sworn in as a Fargo police officer in April and was still in field training, was cremated in his uniform. On Saturday, the Fargo Police Department escorted his cremains to Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, for his funeral service, which was attended by loved ones, dignitaries and law enforcement agencies from across the country.
The man who fired on police officers in North Dakota earlier this month chose to use a gun that was modified with a binary trigger.
The North Dakota attorney general said Friday that the gunman used a weapon that allowed him to fire rapidly during the July 14 attack.
Authorities in North Dakota say a man armed with 1,800 rounds of ammunition and explosives unleashed a “murderous barrage of fire” as he ambushed officers who were investigating a crash.
Funeral services have been set for the Fargo, North Dakota, police officer killed in a shooting that also left two other officers injured.
The police procession of 10 squad cars and three buses carrying department employees left Fargo early Saturday for Pequot Lakes. Dozens of people were at the memorial honoring Wallin at the site of the shooting as the procession went past, KFGO reported.
Wallin previously served in the Minnesota Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq from November 2020 to July 2021, according to a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard.
He received final military honors at a private interment.
“He served his country, came back here and wanted nothing more but to serve in a position with purpose and meaning — his exact words — and he did that,” Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said at a media briefing after the shooting.
Zibolski on Saturday recounted Wallin’s impressive quality as a candidate in his officer interview last fall, how he excelled in the police academy, and strived for a job with meaning and purpose.
The chief shared that body-camera footage of the shooting showed Wallin “hurried to create distance, intuitively” after his fellow officers were hit, pulled his gun out and was taking aim at the gunman when he was fatally struck.
“His final act of valor was to selflessly face the shooter and attempt to neutralize him to save others,” Zibolski said. “His actions were valorous and exemplify the highest standards of the policing profession.”
Aunt Jodi Wallin recounted her nephew as “the little boy I adored who grew into the young man I admired and was oh so proud of.”
Wallin had recently purchased a house for himself and his fiancée, and “was so proud of becoming a new homeowner that he ran right out and bought himself a lawnmower and mowed his new lawn,” his aunt said.
“I remember him as a small boy with his little arms wrapped so tightly around my neck, burying his face into me to try to avoid the fireworks that he hated so much at that age,” she said. “From that timid, small boy, he grew to be a driven, ambitious, brave young man.”
Chaplain Jordan Helming, who served with Wallin in Iraq, recalled his dedication as a soldier and his positive personality amid a changing mission as well as restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Jake could see the big picture in life, and he realized that it took long, disciplined, steady efforts to get you to the top of the mountain,” Helming said.
Wallin’s parents received two Fargo police awards and the Minnesota Distinguished Service Medal in honor of their son at the service.
Law enforcement agencies from other states attended Wallin’s funeral. A caravan including Sioux Falls police and South Dakota Highway Patrol left Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Friday to make the five-and-a-half hour trip for the funeral, KELO-TV reported.
Dignitaries at the funeral service included Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
A public memorial service is planned for Wednesday in Fargo. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will attend and give remarks, his spokesman said.
On Friday, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley provided more details about the attack, which also wounded Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes and bystander Karlee Koswick, who had been involved in the crash.
Barakat was a Syrian national who came to the U.S. on an asylum request in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, Wrigley said.
Over the past five years, he had searched the internet for terms including “kill fast,” “explosive ammo,” “incendiary rounds,” and “mass shooting events,” Wrigley said.
Perhaps the most chilling search was for “area events where there are crowds,” which on July 13 brought up a news article with the headline, “Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair.” On the day of the attack, the downtown fair was in its second day and was less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the crash scene.
Barakat also searched for information on the Red River Valley Fair, which was a 6-mile (10-kilometer) drive from the scene, the attorney general said.
Wrigley said Barakat had an “obvious motive to kill” and was driven by hate, but it was not directed toward any particular group — including the police.
Evidence suggests instead that Barakat came upon the crash by “happenstance” and his ensuing ambush was a diversion from his much bigger intended target, Wrigley said.
North Dakota
Here are 15 potential candidates to replace Jimmy Rogers as South Dakota State football coach
SIOUX FALLS — After having the same coach for a quarter century, South Dakota State is now looking for a new one after just two seasons.
Jimmy Rogers went 27-3 with a national championship after replacing John Stiegelmeier, but he’s already on to his next rung on the ladder, as the new head coach of Washington State, where he replaces another former Stiegelmeier assistant in Jake Dickert, who left Wazzu to coach Wake Forest.
SDSU athletic director Justin Sell always says he has a list of names ready for anytime he needs to make a coaching change, but this might be bit more challenging. Rogers is expected to bring his staff with him to Pullman, and there wasn’t necessarily an obvious in-house candidate on staff, anyway.
There seems to be an assumption among fans that Sell would prefer to hire in-house, and that if that can’t work at least bring in someone with ties to the program.
Maybe. But this feels like a time to cast a wide net and consider candidates from outside the program, too.
Here’s a list of 15 candidates. If you’ve been following my work for awhile you know I have a pretty good track record with these, but I want to make clear, here. I would not at all be surprised or embarrassed if the eventual SDSU football coach isn’t one of these 15 guys.
I’m not going to speculate about assistant coaches I know nothing about from programs I don’t cover. Maybe there’s a position coach in the Big Ten or SEC or the NFL who wants the job. That could very well be the case. So keep that in mind while reading this list.
There’s already been plenty of hand-wringing about Rogers leaving the program in the dust. Not only is that not really fair, let me assure you, the Jacks program is going to be fine.
Will they take a step back? Almost certainly. Star receiver Griffin Wilde announced he’s entering the transfer portal on Saturday and more are sure to follow.
But the Jacks still have all the pieces in place to win and win big. Remember, the FCS doesn’t have a ton of great contenders right now. Unless SDSU isn’t able to hang on to any of their players I’d expect them to be back in the playoffs next year (keeping pace with USD and NDSU may be another story, at least in the short term).
Anyway, here are 15 candidates, listed in alphabetical order.
Nick Benedetto, defensive coordinator, Fresno State
He played cornerback under Kalen DeBoer at USF, spent a year as a grad assistant at USD and then served as defensive coordinator at West Virginia State, USF, Samford and, for the last three years, Northern Illinois. He was just hired at Fresno State, but could be interested in coming back to South Dakota for his first shot at being a head coach.
Brian Bergstrom, head coach, Winona State
Served as SDSU’s safeties coach and then co-defensive coordinator, along with Rogers, from 2019-2021. From there he went to Division II Winona State, where he took the Warriors to the playoffs in his debut season but has gone 5-6 in each of the last two.
Josh Davis, Fresno State offensive coordinator
The former SDSU assistant just left USD after two successful seasons as offensive coordinator to take the same job at Fresno State, an FBS program. Would he turn back around and come home to Brookings to lead his alma mater? My hunch is no but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Eric Eidsness, quarterbacks coach, Northern Illinois
SDSU’s offensive coordinator before Jason Eck (who was before Zach Lujan who was before Ryan Olson), Eidsness presided over some truly explosive Jackrabbit offenses and served some time as the assistant head coach, as well.
He’s since been at Northern Illinois, where he’s been the quarterbacks coach since 2019 and was offensive coordinator from 2019-22. Eidsness was behind the Zach Zenner and Taryn Christion-led offenses of SDSU’s pre-Frisco era, and he posted a 26-40 record in six seasons as the head coach at Division II Southwest Minnesota State, which is much better than it sounds if you know anything about that program.
Danny Freund, quarterbacks coach, SDSU
A surprise addition to the Jacks staff in 2024, Freund had been the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach at North Dakota, where he’d also been a quarterback. He seemed to be the coach-in-waiting under Bubba Schweigert, but instead he came to SDSU, and then after one year Schweigert retired and the Hawks hired Eric Schmidt.
Did SDSU bring Freund in to be their coach in waiting, knowing Rogers would likely not be here long? Perhaps. But if he’s going with Rogers to Washington State it’s a non-starter. And even if he wants to stay here the Jacks may decide to go elsewhere.
Dan Jackson, defensive coordinator, New Mexico
The father of the ‘NebraskaJacks’, Jackson was once SDSU’s cornerbacks coach, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach, and certainly made an impression in his stint in Brookings as an aggressive recruiter and outgoing personality. He recruited the hell out of Nebraska, making enemies in Lincoln by stealing from the Huskers’ pool of walk-ons.
He’s since been to Northern Illinois, Vanderbilt and spent the past season as the defensive coordinator for Jason Eck at Idaho. He just agreed to follow Eck to New Mexico. FBS money may be tough to compete with, but Jackson has never been a head coach and might be ready to make the move.
Jake Landry, offensive coordinator, NDSU
Just completed his first year as NDSU’s offensive coordinator. Landry is also a former UND quarterback (he was the QB when they lost to USF in 2009), one who’s been at some successful programs in a 15-year coaching career.
Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum
UMD (under Bob Nielson), Northern Illinois, Wisconsin-La Crosse, St. Thomas and even a year as an FBS position coach when he spent one season as the quarterback coach at Temple.
Zach Lujan, offensive coordinator, Northwestern
My sources say Lujan is a popular choice among players and administration. But he’s reportedly making about a half-million a year at Northwestern and has only been there for one season. He’d be taking a pay cut to come back and he may not be ready to be a head coach yet, either.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
Then again, he’s an extremely bright and mature young coach. His players at SDSU loved him. He’s also an alum and Northwestern went 4-8 this year. The Wildcats face a big challenge in the expanded Big Ten. Maybe Lujan could decide it would be better for his career to come back to Brookings to take his first head coaching gig to better serve a later climb up the ladder.
Luke Meadows, offensive line coach, Northern Illinois
It’s been more than a decade since he was in Brookings, but Meadows is an SDSU alum, was associate head coach in 2005 and offensive coordinator from 2008-2012. He’s an offensive line coach by trade.
He later worked at Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss, Eastern Michigan, Troy and most recently Northern Illinois.
Jerry Olszewski, head coach, Augustana
I’m well aware that SDSU fans will oppose the idea of a national championship FCS team hiring a Division II coach, particularly one that used to be an inferior rival, but these are unique circumstances under which it does make a little more sense.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
Namely: Rogers’ departure is expected to lead to a mass exodus of SDSU players into the transfer portal. Well, OJ recruits a lot of the same players. Many of SDSU’s best had offers from Augustana. Most had positive impressions of OJ and the Viking program. Olszewski could potentially stem the tide of transfers out the door through his own familiarity with the region and the players in it.
He’s also led the Vikings to consecutive NSIC titles, brought his team to Brookings in September and held the Jacks to 24 points, and has often talked of molding his program in the image of SDSU.
Kurtiss Riggs, analyst, Riggs Academy director
Nobody knows the local recruiting scene better than Riggs, who was once the right-hand man of Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. He’s been the color analyst for SDSU games on Midco the last few years so he knows the Jackrabbit roster well, knows the program well, and so far hasn’t joined DeBoer in Tuscaloosa.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
Now that he’s done with the indoor game the time might be right for Riggs to take his first college head coaching job. The guy knows how to win — he was a part of four national championships at USF (one as a player, three as assistant coach) and won 11 titles as the head coach of the Sioux Falls Storm.
Brad Salem, tight ends coach, Memphis
A Sioux Falls native and son of former Gophers coach Joe Salem, Brad helped launch Augustana’s run of success in Division II, and then spent a decade at Michigan State, coaching running backs, quarterbacks and spending one year as offensive coordinator. He’s been at Memphis for the last four years. He’s 54, but Salem knows everybody and has coached some pretty high level players.
John Stiegelmeier, retired former SDSU coach
If Rogers were leaving to, say, be the defensive coordinator at Georgia or something and not taking anyone with him, I would go as far out of my way as I could to make the case that bringing back Stig for a year or two would be the right decision. He could slide right back into the same role he had near the end of his career — the guy who coaches the coaches — and groom a potential successor.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
But if almost the entire staff is gone, that seems like an awful daunting task, asking the soon-to-be 68-year old to come in and build a staff from scratch and try to retain/rebuild the roster.
That said, Stig didn’t really want to retire when he did (he stepped aside to prevent Rogers from leaving for the D-coordinator job at Washington State), he’s stuck at 199 career wins and while he’s content in retirement he also might be a little bored. It wouldn’t be a bad direction to go.
Jed Stugart, head coach, Lindenwood
The former USF coach has gone 41-38 in seven seasons at Lindenwood, a newcomer to the FCS level. He had a close relationship with John Stiegelmeier and keeps close tabs on the South Dakota football scene. A former country music singer, the 54-year-old Stugart has the kind of charisma and personality to help sell tickets, raise money and win over fans and recruits.
But perhaps more importantly, the guy knows how to take over a successful program and keep it running. He replaced Kalen DeBoer in 2010 after DeBoer had just won his second consecutive (and third overall) national championship. DeBoer left USF with a 67-3 record, his top two assistants (Chuck Morrell and Kurtiss Riggs) also left and so did dozens of star players.
Stugart stepped in and reloaded the roster quickly, taking USF right back to the national championship game and eventually up to the Division II level where they immediately became playoff contenders.
Zach Zenner, former SDSU running back
I’m mostly joking with this one, but there is a sudden trend of hiring former star players with little coaching experience. The idea seems to be that celebrity coaches sell tickets, attract donors and impress recruits.
David Samson / The Forum
David Samson/Forum Communications Co.
Zenner has been working as an agent since his five-year NFL career ended, he’s got a genius intellect and, much like Rogers, is a much funnier and personable guy in person than he sometimes comes across on camera.
Who’s to say he couldn’t build something special?
Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
North Dakota
Angela Latisha Farley, Fargo, Chapter 7
Desirae L. Johnson, Mandan, Chapter 7
Jessie J. Messmer, formerly known as Jessie Sticka, Dickinson, Chapter 7
Paulette Kay Thurn, Bismarck, Chapter 7
Jerry A. and Linda L. Dornback, formerly known as Linda amber, Valley City, Chapter 7
Justin N. and Alexis R. Tormaschy, also known as Alexis R. Emter, Belfield, Chapter 13
Minnesota
Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.
There were no bankruptcies filed in this reporting area the week of Dec. 16, 2024.
Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.
Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.
Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.
Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
MORTON COUNTY, N.D. (KFYR) – A Hebron woman was killed in a crash around 4:30 p.m. Friday on Morton County Road 88 just north of Glen Ullin.
The North Dakota Highway Patrol says the 66-year-old was distracted by a phone call, veered off the road into the ditch and hit a concrete bridge support.
The driver was not wearing a seatbelt and was life-flighted to a Bismarck hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Three children in the SUV were injured and transported to the hospital by ambulance. They were wearing seatbelts according to authorities.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
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