Police were responding to sexual assault report when Burnsville shooter opened fire – Law Officer

By Anthony Gockowski

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – A search warrant filed Wednesday confirms that Burnsville police were responding to a call about an alleged sexual assault when 38-year-old Shannon Gooden opened fire, killing two responding officers and a firefighter.

Sources told Alpha News that Gooden was allegedly abusing one of the seven children in the home when the 911 call came in Sunday at 1:50 a.m.

Dispatch audio previously reported on by Crime Watch Minneapolis revealed that Gooden was “wanted or was to be arrested for second-degree criminal sexual conduct” at the time of the shooting.

Now, a search warrant filed Wednesday provides additional details on the tragic standoff, which ended with Gooden shooting and killing two 27-year-old Burnsville police officers, Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, along with 40-year-old fire medic Adam Finseth.

The BCA, which is responsible for investigating the incident, said police responded to Gooden’s Burnsville residence on the 12600 block of 33rd Avenue on a report of “an alleged sexual assault.”

When police arrived, they made contact with the reporting party and Gooden, who then retreated into a bedroom in the home and barricaded himself inside.

Officers proceeded to negotiate with Gooden, but he refused to cooperate. Instead, he opened fire on the first responders with “what is believed to be multiple different firearms.”

Police returned fire and Gooden again retreated to a bedroom as a SWAT team responded to the scene.

Hours after the initial call, police flew a drone into the home and found Gooden dead in the bedroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

As Alpha News previously reported, multiple women had sought protective orders against Gooden because of alleged domestic abuse. Neither order was granted.

Gooden was convicted of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon in 2008 and thus was subject to a “lifetime ban from possessing firearms.”

The BCA filed the search warrant because investigators want to search a phone belonging to his ex-girlfriend, who was texting with Gooden several days before the shooting. They believe these conversations will shed light on Gooden’s mindset on the day of the shooting. Gooden shared three children with his ex-girlfriend, who was one of the women who filed for a protective order. The other was Gooden’s girlfriend at the time of the shooting.

A joint public memorial service for the fallen first responders is scheduled for Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. A fundraiser has also been started to support the families.

This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.