Fargo fallen officer remembered as wanting to 'make a difference'
Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski remembers the first time he met Jake Wallin, when Wallin was interviewing for an officer job in his department.
Although he was young, Wallin was an impressive candidate, Zibolski said. He’d already served his country in the Minnesota Army National Guard, and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was confident and “looking pretty snappy,” Zibolski said.
When the chief asked why he wanted to join the department, Wallin was clear: He wanted a job with meaning and purpose, to set an example and “to make a difference,” Zibolski recalled.
Zibolski recalled the meeting at Wallin’s funeral on Saturday in Pequot Lakes, where thousands of law enforcement officers, friends, family and community members gathered to remember the fallen Fargo police officer. The 23-year-old was fatally shot by an assailant July 14 after responding to a car crash in Fargo.
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On the first day of class in the police academy, Zibolski recalled how he mispronounced Wallin’s last name. Wallin corrected him – “‘It’s wall-EEN,’” Ziboski recalled. “And I'm thinking, ‘OK, is this guy mocking me? Day one of the academy, and we got a funny guy in class.’”
But the chief said he soon learned that while Wallin had a sense of humor, he was also a serious student who excelled in the police academy and was committed to his duty of serving others.
“One thing we can say for sure that after today, no one's ever going to have to be told how to pronounce Jake Wallin’s name,” Zibolski said. “It will forever be etched in our memory.”
On Saturday morning, a long line of law enforcement vehicles escorted Wallin from Fargo to Pequot Lakes. People stood along the highways, holding flags and signs with messages of support.
Mourners filled the Pequot Lakes High School gymnasium, including law enforcement officers and military members clad in dark dress uniforms.
They remembered a young man who was a dedicated soldier and law enforcement officer, a team player who maintained a positive attitude and always had a smile on his face.
“Jake could see the big picture in life,” said Chaplain Jordan Helming, who served in Iraq with Wallin. “And he realized that it took long, disciplined, steady efforts to get you to the top of the mountain.”
Wallin was born in South Carolina, but grew up in St. Michael, and graduated from St. Michael-Albertville High School in 2018.
His aunt, Jodi Wallin, said Jake always knew what he wanted in life — to help others.
“He said his desire to serve came from wanting to have purpose behind his job each and every day, and how he wanted to do something that he could tell himself at the end of the day that he had made a difference somehow,” she said. “Looking across the room today, I can tell that he definitely made a difference.”
Wallin was responding to a traffic crash in Fargo last week when he was shot and killed. Two other officers and a woman at the scene were wounded.
A fourth officer shot and killed the suspect, 37-year-old Mohamed Barakat.
Investigators say Barakat had numerous weapons and explosives, and apparently was planning a larger attack. Zibolski said had the officers not stopped Barakat, he likely would have gone on to shoot and kill others in the Fargo community.
“His final act of valor was to selflessly face the shooter, in an attempt to neutralize him to save others,” Zibolski said of Wallin.
Wallin's death is another stark reminder of the potential dangers that police officers face on the job.
Since early April, five law enforcement officers in the region have been killed in the line of duty, including two police officers, a sheriff's deputy from western Wisconsin and a Minnesota deputy.
Todd Hoffman came early to sit in a lawn chair along Highway 371 in Nisswa holding a flag as the funeral procession went by.
Hoffman retired a year ago after working for the Wright County Sheriff's Office. He said it's important to show support for other law enforcement officers when one is hurt or killed.
“It just reminds them why they’re doing it,” Hoffman said. "Law enforcement, we've made mistakes along the way. But still, we go out there, we [make] a lot of sacrifices for our families and to actually serve the community. And that gets lost a lot of the time.”
Wallin was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor. After the funeral, a private interment ceremony was held at a Nisswa cemetery.
Wallin's life will be celebrated publicly at a memorial service on Wednesday in Fargo.
