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
Sitting in a parked car with an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, the man who fired on police officers in North Dakota earlier this month chose to use the one gun in his vehicle that was modified with a binary trigger. The device allowed the gun to fire so rapidly that it sounded like an automatic weapon.
The July 14 shooting in Fargo, which killed one officer and wounded two others and a civilian, has put a spotlight on the device and other trigger modifications that are a growing concern for law enforcement.
Mohamad Barakat, 37, opened fire on the officers as they responded to a car accident. He shot from his vehicle loaded with guns, a homemade grenade, gasoline canisters, propane tanks containing improvised explosives, and more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition, police said. Barakat was killed by a fourth officer who returned fire.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said on Friday that he believes the violence could have been the beginning of a bigger attack, as the Downtown Fargo Street Fair and the Red River Valley Fair were underway.
Wrigley noted that Barakat had four semi-automatic handguns and three semi-automatic rifles, but only one of them — the one he picked to go on his shooting rampage — had a binary trigger.
Here’s a look at the device, regulations around binary triggers and how they differ from bump stocks:
WHAT ARE BINARY TRIGGERS?
A binary trigger is a modification that allows a weapon to fire one round when the trigger is pulled and another when it is released — in essence doubling the firing capacity, firearms experts and weapons manufacturers say.
