The shooter who killed two police officers and a firefighter paramedic in a Minneapolis suburb during a domestic disturbance call early Sunday has been identified as a man who was already barred from owning firearms.
Shannon Gooden, 38, opened fire on first responders in the affluent suburb of Burnsville, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said on Monday. Gooden was in a contentious dispute with the mother of his three oldest children, authorities said, when first responders arrived at the scene.
Gooden killed Burnsville Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic who was assigned to the city’s SWAT team, police said. Another officer, Sgt. Adam Medlicott, was shot and wounded. Gooden himself was found dead in a room of the home with a gunshot wound to his head in what the Hennepin County Medical Examiner confirmed as a suicide.
While it was unclear who had called 911, Gooden had barricaded himself in the home with seven children aged 2 to 15. Multiple guns were recovered from the scene.
Burnsville officials identified the officers and paramedic killed early Sunday as Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic who was assigned to the city’s SWAT team. (City of Burnsville)
Court records show Gooden had his right to possess guns revoked in Minnesota after pleading guilty in 2008 to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, local FOX 9 reported.
He petitioned a court unsuccessfully in 2020 to have his gun rights restored.
The incident happened near the 12600 block 33rd Avenue South in Burnsville, Minnesota, on Sunday morning. (FOX9 Minneapolis KMSP)
Court records also show his disputes over the custody and financial support of his three oldest children had escalated, accusing their mother, Noemi Torres, of neglect while she called him “controlling” and accused him of abusing her and the children.
The deadly standoff came just two days before Gooden and Torres had a scheduled district court hearing on the matter.
A police vehicle with what appears to be bullet pockmarks is towed near the scene where two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed on Sunday in Burnsville, Minnesota. (AP/Abbie Parr)
Torres told KARE-TV that their three children, two boys ages 12 and 15 and a daughter, 14, were in the house during the standoff. She said that Gooden threatened to shoot police if anyone called 911.
“I’m going to have a standoff,” Torres quoted Gooden as saying, according to brief interview excerpts the station posted on social media. “I’m going to kill everybody.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.