Fargo, N.D. – Fargo Mayor Doctor Tim Mahoney is doubling down on criticism of his police chief about how information was relayed to the public about a pair of deadly weekend shootings.
Mahoney says he plans to meet privately with Chief David Zibolski about the handling of the whole situation, which could include Zibolski’s own future.
“I was upset,” Mahoney told The Flag’s Scott Hennen on Tuesday. “I wasn’t happy.”
Listen: Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney on The Flag
Mahoney further explained his side of the story when it came to why nobody from the city held a press conference on the day of the gun violence.
Two people were killed and 2 others were injured in an overnight downtown shooting on August 3rd, and a second in south Fargo about a half hour later that authorities now say are connected.
Mahoney says he contacted Zibolski, who the mayor indicated was out of town that Sunday, about informing the public about what they knew.
“I reached out and said ‘when are we having a press conference?'”, said Mahoney. “It was 8:3o in the morning and I was anticipating we’d have one at 11am.”
Mahoney says Zibolski responded by saying “we don’t much [and] we don’t need to do that.”
“I sat down and just said you can’t do that,” said Mahoney. “The community is not used to shootings and things that happen in that type of extent.”
“You have to get out there in front and tell the public what’s going on.”
Although Mahoney was not asked why he himself as mayor did not take the initiative to schedule a press conference on his own.
Zibolski has also been under fire for a heated Monday press conference and contentious handling of questions with the media that came some 36 hours after the shootings.
At one point, Zibolski cited the reason why he didn’t show his face publicly on the day of the shootings was because it was his day off.
“I’m sorry [but] this job is 24/7,” said Mahoney.
Asked if Zibolski should be relieved of his duties, Mahoney confirmed he plans to sit down with the chief this week “about a variety of issues.”
“We need to have a serious conversation,” said Mahoney. “We’ll have a discussion and see where it goes.”