Gunman Identified in Shooting of Burnsville First Responders Was Prohibited From Possessing Guns

Multiple law enforcement sources and next-door neighbors on Monday revealed the identity of the man who killed two police officers and an EMT before killing himself as Shannon Cortez Gooden.

Shannon Cortez Gooden

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner confirmed the identity early Tuesday, revealing that Gooden died of a gunshot to the head Monday and declaring his cause of death as suicide.

The 38-year-old was prohibited from possessing firearms as the result of a 2008 2nd-degree felony assault with a deadly weapon conviction, according to court documents.

In 2019, 11 years after that conviction, Gooden petitioned the court to restore his firearm rights. {snip}

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First District Court Judge Dannia Edwards denied the request in October 2020, according to court records.

On Feb. 18 at approximately 2 a.m., Gooden opened fire on first responders from a second-floor window of the house he rented on 33rd Avenue South in Burnsville, according to KARE 11 News sources. Police were responding to a call of a domestic situation involving a man who barricaded himself with his family inside the house. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said seven children ages 2-15 were inside the home.

Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, along with firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth were killed. Police Sgt. Adam Medlicott was injured and taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Burnsville officials.

Court records show Gooden had two order for protection petitions filed against him, one alleging domestic abuse and the other alleging domestic assault. The Associated Press reports that the deadly standoff with police came only two days before a scheduled district court hearing over his ongoing legal disputes with the mother of his three oldest children.

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The Dakota County Attorney’s Office noted the domestic incidents while arguing that Gooden should not have his firearm rights restored, In addition, the prosecutor noted other incidents in Gooden’s criminal history that included:

• A 2004 conviction for disorderly conduct
• A 2005 conviction for disorderly conduct in which he hit the phone out of the hand of a woman who was calling police on him
• The underlying 2008 conviction in which Gooden pulled out a 7-inch knife during a fight at a shopping center and then threw rocks at a woman’s car

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