FARGO, N.D. – While a frightened city waited for more information about a pair of deadly shootings on Aug. 3, Fargo’s police chief, who had knowledge of the situation, went ahead with a board meeting connected to a timeshare resort property that same morning in Florida.
Flag Family News has learned Police Chief David Zibolski kept his schedule and participated in an almost four hour long quarterly board session for the Caribbean Beach Club based in Fort Myers.
That very morning, two shootings in Fargo left two people dead and two others injured, resulting in a day of citywide violence not seen in years.
The first shooting took place at 1:56 a.m. in the 50 block of Broadway, while a second went down at 2:26 a.m. in the 4700 block of 16th Avenue South.
The board meeting that Zibolski attended began at 9:01 a.m. ET, or 8:01 a.m. Fargo time.
The first written statement about the Fargo gun violence from Zibolski was not released until some 15 hours after the first shooting.
Based on information gathered by Flag Family News, Zibolski serves as the Caribbean Beach Club board secretary.
The club meeting was held at a hotel complex in nearby Bonita Springs.
Flag Family News obtained an audio recording of the budget session, which included virtual and in-person attendees.
A video recording of the session featured a visual slideshow presentation but no footage of the attendees.
Flag Family News also learned the recording was not made available until Aug. 22.
Zibolski, who has already stated publicly that he was out of town that day in Florida and returned later that night, told Flag Family News during an Aug. 12 interview that he was “communicating throughout the whole day from the 2 a.m. start [of the first shooting] by phone, text and email.”
During that same interview, Zibolski was asked whether or not his return flight from Florida was preplanned before the shootings.
Zibolski acknowledged he was “already going to be back Sunday [August 3rd]” and confirmed the flight departed at 3 p.m. local time.
Timeline of the board meeting
In the recording obtained by Flag Family, Zibolski’s voice is heard periodically throughout most of the session.
Based on the audio quality and interactions with other members, Zibolski appeared to be at the meeting in person.
About a minute into the meeting, Zibolski is heard saying “here” as a roll call was taken by the group.
At around 9:30 a.m. ET, Zibolski is heard frequently interjecting during discussions about budget issues and other matters until around 9:38 a.m. ET.
In a previous interview with Flag Family News, Mayor Tim Mahoney says he reached out to Zibolski at 8:30 a.m. Fargo time, which would be 9:30 a.m. Florida time, about holding a press conference about the shootings.
Mahoney says Zibolski did respond, and that Zibolski advised against a news conference based on lack of information at the time since “we don’t know much [and] we don’t need to do that.”
Based on the meeting recording, which was without video footage of participants, it is unclear when and how Zibolski responded to Mahoney during that time frame.
Flag Family News also could not verify how often Zibolski responded in general to outside communication during the session.
Almost three hours into the Florida meeting, the group’s president decided to take a lunch break.
“I know I’ve got some people that are heading out this afternoon,” said the president. “So are we thinking 30 minutes max?”
“I would suggest that,” Zibolski is heard replying.
“Ok, so we’re going to take a 30 minute break for lunch. We’ll meet back here at 12:30,” the president responded.
When the panel returned from lunch, Zibolski is again heard engaged in conversation with other members about a draft budget.
“September is going to help clear a few things up, and we can figure it out,” Zibolski said at one point to other members.
Minutes later, Zibolski appears to signal he is about to leave the session by saying he’s “going to start packing up here.”
Zibolski had previously told Flag Family News he prearranged a 3pm ET departing flight from Florida before the shootings to return to Fargo.
Before the meeting concluded, Zibolski is heard one final time at around 12:30pm ET, which was approximately three and a half hours after the roll call was taken.
In that moment, the group president is heard asking for a “Dave” to vote on an agenda item.
A phone quality voice that sounded like Zibolski is heard voting “aye” on moving ahead with finalizing approval of a study on reserve funds.
Based on the timestamp at the start of the meeting, the session ended at 12:46 p.m. ET, which is equivalent to 1:46pm Fargo time.
Response from police chief on the board meeting
Flag Family News reached out via email to Zibolski for comment about the meeting.
In a written response, Zibolski confirmed his attendance, saying he does “own timeshare weeks at a timeshare property” and is a “volunteer as a board member with the Caribbean Beach Club.”
On the morning of the shootings, Zibolski says he was “in regular contact with the FPD’s leadership team and on-call PIO who kept me fully apprised of the situation.”
Asked about his communication with Mayor Mahoney, who said he reached out to Zibolski at 8:30am Fargo time, Zibolski did not specifically confirm in his statement that he did or did not speak with Mahoney at that particular time.
Zibolski did say he was “in contact with the Mayor and City Administrator via text that morning regarding the situation.”
“Both our leadership team and the on-call PIO agreed that a press conference on Monday would be appropriate and allow for more information to be shared with the public,” Zibolski wrote.
Asked specifically why he proceeded to attend the meeting even instead of trying to return to Fargo sooner since he knew about the shootings at 2am, Zibolski said it was “unrealistic to find a different flight on such short notice when I already had a scheduled return flight that afternoon.”
“Our team managed a rapidly evolving and complex situation and shared verified information with the public as it became available via press releases,” wrote Zibolski. “However, we are always evaluating our processes, and that includes how we communicate with the public during critical incidents, which was a learning lesson in this case.”
“The Fargo Police Department is committed to conveying timely information to the public and the news media. That commitment was shown the following weekend with an immediate morning news conference to address a separate incident.”
The following is the full written response to Flag Family News:
“I was asked by a reporter during the press briefing on August 5, 2025, if I owned a home in Florida. I do not own a home in Florida; I own timeshare weeks at a timeshare property. As part of my timeshare membership, I volunteer as a board member with the Caribbean Beach Club and I attended the board’s Aug. 3 meeting.”
“The Fargo Police Department has strong, capable leadership at every level. That morning, I was in regular contact with the FPD’s leadership team and on-call PIO who kept me fully apprised of the situation, including the officers’ response to the incidents and the thorough, professional crime-scene investigations that were underway. Additionally, I was in contact with the Mayor and City Administrator via text that morning regarding the situation. With the investigative efforts active and ongoing, both our leadership team and the on-call PIO agreed that a press conference on Monday would be appropriate and allow for more information to be shared with the public. It was also unrealistic to find a different flight on such short notice when I already had a scheduled return flight that afternoon.”
“Our team managed a rapidly evolving and complex situation and shared verified information with the public as it became available via press releases. However, we are always evaluating our processes, and that includes how we communicate with the public during critical incidents, which was a learning lesson in this case. The Fargo Police Department is committed to conveying timely information to the public and the news media. That commitment was shown the following weekend with an immediate morning news conference to address a separate incident.”
“Thank you for the opportunity to provide more context to this situation.”
