The man suspected of fatally shooting two Burnsville police officers and a Fire Department medic had a previous criminal conviction, had been accused of violent outbursts against two women with whom he shared children, and was barred for life from owning firearms.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner confirmed Monday that Shannon Cortez Gooden, 38, was the suspect in the killing of three emergency responders inside a Burnsville home early Sunday. Authorities say he then took his own life. The deaths of the officers and medic prompted an outpouring of grief from law enforcement and Minnesotans alike, the latest in a string of violence toward first responders in the region in recent months.
Along with killing officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, Gooden was accused of wounding 38-year-old Sgt. Adam Medlicott. Officials said Monday that Medlicott was treated at HCMC and is now recovering at home.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office disclosed Monday that Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth were all declared dead from homicide at HCMC between 6:33 a.m. and 6:46 a.m. Sunday. Ruge was shot in the chest. Multiple gunshots hit Elmstrand, and Finseth was shot in the right arm and torso, the examiner’s office said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is leading the investigation. Ashlee Sherrill, a spokesperson for the St. Paul division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said the agency is working closely with law enforcement in Minnesota.
“Due to this being an active investigation, we are limited what we can share to the public and we will defer to BCA as they lead this investigation,” Sherrill said. No other details were yet available about the sequence of events inside the home early Sunday; neighbors reported hearing gunfire a little after 5 a.m. Sunday, several hours into the standoff.
In February 2008, Gooden was convicted of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon stemming from an event months earlier when he brandished a knife and threw rocks at his victim during a fight in a Burnsville shopping center parking lot.
Court records show that Gooden’s assault conviction was eventually reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor because he abided by the terms of probation. The order restored his right to vote, but he was barred for life from owning firearms.