Two Burnsville, Minnesota, police officers and a firefighter/paramedic were shot and killed responding to a domestic early Sunday morning. The suspect reportedly killed himself.
Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, along with firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth were killed. Sgt. Adam Medlicott was injured and taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Burnsville officials.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement as Shannon Cortez Gooden opened fire on first responders from a second-floor window of the house he rented in Burnsville, according to KARE 11 News sources. Police were responding to a call of a domestic situation involving a man who barricaded himself with his family inside the house. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said seven children ages 2-15 were inside the home.
Gooden, 38, was prohibited from possessing firearms as the result of a 2008 2nd-degree felony assault with a deadly weapon conviction, according to court documents. KARE reports he also had a history of domestic violence.
In 2019, Gooden petitioned the court to restore his firearm rights. Gooden wrote in an affidavit, “I would like to be able to protect not only myself but my family as well. I completed an anger management course as well as a parenting course.”
First District Court Judge Dannia Edwards denied the request in October 2020, according to court records.