Gunman who slaughtered 2 cops and fireman identified after holding kids hostage
The man armed with multiple guns who shot and killed two police officers and a fireman has been identified as Shannon Cortez Gooden.
The 38-year-old, who had multiple previous convictions including for assault with a deadly weapon, died in the incident. He opened fire from the windows of a home filled with children, who were being held hostage.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans previously said the gunman had barricaded himself with his family, including seven children ranging in age from 2 to 15. Sources tonight have said the first call to police came from the mother of some of the children inside, who had concerns for their safety.
The firefighter, who also works as a paramedic, was shot while providing aid to an injured officer. A third officer was wounded in the shooting in a tree-lined neighbourhood of two-story homes in the city of Burnsville, Minnesota, US.
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Suspected gunman Shannon Cortez Gooden died at the scene (Shannon Gooden/Facebook)City officials identified the slain officers as Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27. Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic for the city since 2019, also was killed.
Evans said negotiations lasted for hours before the suspect opened fire. He wasn’t specific on the exact amount of time, but the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said the standoff lasted four hours before a SWAT team entered the home.
Scanner reports first revealed Gooden's name, before it emerged widely on social media. It is now being reported widely that sources close to the investigation have named Gooden. Background checks also tie him to the address and property records show he was renting the home where the horror took place.
Thee suspect had several guns and large amounts of ammunition and shot at the police officers from multiple positions within the home, including the upper and lower floors. Evans said at least one officer was shot inside the home.
The victims fatally shot from left to right - Paul Elmstrand, Matthew Ruge and firefighter Adam FinsethGooden was previously convicted of disorderly conduct in both 2004 and 2005, court records show. In 2007 he was convicted of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
In addition to the charges, Gooden had petitioned the court for restoration of his rights to have a firearm, in 2020, it is being reported.
He is understood to have had five children himself, and cared for two futher kids with his girlfriend.
His social media is filled with posts displaying his obvious fascination with guns. In videos circulating tonight he is seen firing guns.
Court records show the petition stated: "Mr Gooden has taken significant steps to prove his value as a productive and law-abiding citizen." It went on to argue that be giving him his gun rights back, "he would be able to protect not only himself but his family as well." It was denied by the court.
“We still don’t know the exact exchange of gunfire that occurred,” Evans said. “Certainly several officers did return fire.”
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He said that around 8am the suspect was found dead and the family and children were released from the home. None of them were hurt.
Elmstrand, a member of the department’s mobile command staff, joined the department in 2017. Ruge was hired in 2020 and was part of the department’s crisis negotiations team and was a physical evidence officer.
Picture of Gooden he had posted on social media (Shannon Gooden/Facebook)Another police officer, Sgt. Adam Medlicott, was injured and was being treated at a hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries. But tonight it has been confirmed he has left the hospital. The city said. As the bodies of the dead left a hospital, officers saluted, before they were taken in a convoy to the medical examiner’s office. Medical staff watched in scrubs.
“We’re hurting,” said Police Chief Tanya Schwartz. “Today, three members of our team made the ultimate sacrifice for this community. They are heroes.”
Burnsville shooting victims named as city mourns two police officers and paramedic killedNeighbors were startled awake by loud pops about an hour before sunrise.
Alicia McCullum said she and her family dropped to the floor, uncertain whether the noise was gunshots. She and her husband peered out of their sunroom and saw squad cars and a phalanx of police officers.
“I didn’t think it was a gunshot at first, but then we opened the windows and we saw police everywhere and police hiding in our neighbors’ yards,” said McCullum, who lives two houses down from the source of the commotion.
There was a large emergency service presence during and after the six hour negotiations (fox 9)“Then there were three more gunshots,” she said. “It was like a bunch of fireworks.” That’s when she and her husband and two children sought safety in a bathroom and dropped to the floor. They prayed.
McCullum said she was relieved to see a woman and children escorted out of their home. “We’re so thankful for those police officers that risked their lives to save those kids,” McCullum said.“And my heart goes out to that mother.”
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