Burnsville Cops, Medic Slain Responding To Sex Assault Report: Docs

BURNSVILLE, MN — Two Burnsville police officers and a firefighter were fatally shot Sunday while responding to a reported sexual assault inside a home, according to a search warrant affidavit filed Wednesday by state investigators.

Police arrived around 1:50 a.m. Sunday at the house on the 12600 block of 33rd Avenue. Shannon Gooden subsequently barricaded himself in a bedroom and began firing at officers.

Gooden "used multiple different guns" and refused to cooperate with officers trying to negotiate his surrender.

Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth were killed. Sgt. Adam Medlicott was also injured, and was released from the hospital on Monday.

A SWAT team at the scene used a drone to find the suspect and confirmed he fatally shot himself in the head in the bedroom.

There were seven children ages 2-15 in the home at the time of the shooting on Sunday, police said.

Court documents from August 2020 showed that Gooden was the father of at least five children. Their ages at the time were listed as 8, 10, 11, 2, and 11 months old.

The same court document stated that Gooden "also provides for his girlfriend's two kids who are 8 and 10 years old."

A public memorial is scheduled for Elmstrand, Ruge, and Finseth on Wednesday.

Gun rights revoked

Gooden lost his right to own a gun due to a 2007 felony assault conviction. He petitioned to have his gun rights restored in 2020 but was rejected by the state court.

In his unsuccessful petition, Gooden and his friends argued that he had "undergone tremendous personal and professional growth since his conviction."

Gooden "greatly regrets and has learned from the poor decisions of his past. He would like to have a second chance to prove himself as a productive member of society," the petition added.

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