The Burnsville shooting carried out by Shannon Gooden on February 18, 2024, killed three first responders outside his rented home in Burnsville, Minnesota, after Gooden ambushed officers and a paramedic during a standoff with seven children trapped inside. Gooden, a 38-year-old felon who was legally barred from possessing firearms, had built an arsenal through straw purchases made by his girlfriend. He died by suicide after firing on police for roughly 13 minutes.
What Happened at the Burnsville House
At about 1:50 a.m., a woman inside Gooden’s home at 12605 33rd Avenue South called 911, said “Help me,” and the line dropped. Dispatchers heard screaming. The call was tied to a report of sexual assault, and officers had previously been to the house to investigate an allegation that Gooden had sexually assaulted a minor.1CBS News Minnesota. Shannon Gooden Shoots Burnsville First Responders, Search Warrant
Officers who arrived made contact outside with Ashley Dyrdahl, Gooden’s girlfriend. She told them Gooden was heavily armed with Glocks, a 12-gauge shotgun, and an AR-15-style rifle, and that seven children between ages 2 and 15 were still inside.2KAAL TV. 911 Transcript, Dispatch Log Reveal More About Shooting That Killed Burnsville First Responders She also warned officers that Gooden had threatened to “take everybody out with him.”3KARE 11. County Attorney: Officers Justified to Use Force in Burnsville Shooting
Officers entered through a garage service door around 2:00 a.m. and tried to negotiate for about three and a half hours. Gooden denied having firearms and asked officers not to shoot. At 5:25 a.m., he opened fire from the upper level.4Dakota County Attorney’s Office. Use of Force Determination Officer Paul Elmstrand was struck and fatally wounded within seconds. Sergeant Adam Medlicott was shot in the arm and in the back, where his ballistic vest stopped the round. Medlicott and Officer Daniel Wical returned fire to cover an evacuation attempt.
Gooden then moved to an upper-level window and fired on a Bearcat armored vehicle in the driveway, where other officers and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth were providing medical care. The gunfire lasted about 13 minutes. Officer Matthew Ruge and Finseth were both killed in that stretch. Investigators later recovered 119 rifle cartridge cases and one 9mm cartridge case from the upper level, and at least 41 projectiles struck the Bearcat.4Dakota County Attorney’s Office. Use of Force Determination Officer Javier Jimenez, acting as a sniper, fired one round after seeing Gooden shoot from the window.
At 6:54 a.m., a child in the home called 911 to report Gooden had shot himself. All seven children were out by 7:00 a.m. A 12-year-old inside was struck by glass shards when Gooden shot out a window, and other children hid in a closet. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner confirmed Gooden’s death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.5CBS News Minnesota. Burnsville Shooting Suspect Identified as Shannon Gooden
The Three First Responders Killed
Officer Paul Elmstrand, 27, joined the Burnsville Police Department as a community service officer in August 2017 and was promoted to officer in July 2019. He served on the mobile command staff, peer team, Honor Guard, and field training unit, and colleagues said he was on track for a sergeant promotion.6City of Burnsville. City of Burnsville Honors Its Fallen Heroes
Officer Matthew Ruge, 27, joined the department in April 2020 and served on the crisis negotiations team. Sergeant Medlicott later credited Ruge’s work as a negotiator with keeping Gooden in dialogue for more than three hours before the shooting began.7CBS News Minnesota. Adam Medlicott Interview: Burnsville First Responders Killed
Firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, was a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq as a staff sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division. He joined the Burnsville Fire Department in February 2019 and was survived by his wife, Tara, and their two children.8National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Adam Loren Finseth Sergeant Medlicott, who was shot twice, was released from Hennepin Healthcare the day after the shooting and later returned to duty.9MPR News. Fourth Responder Shot in Burnsville Released From Hospital
Who Shannon Gooden Was
In 2007, at age 22, Gooden followed a woman and her cousin from a Burnsville shopping mall and threatened to slash their tires. When he ran at the woman’s brother with a knife, a security guard disarmed him. He then threw rocks at the man before fleeing. Gooden pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in Dakota County in 2008 and completed five years of probation in 2013.10NBC Chicago. Minnesota Shooter Not Allowed Guns That felony conviction made him a prohibited person under federal law, barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.
In 2020, while seeking sole custody of his children, Gooden petitioned to have his gun rights restored. A Dakota County attorney opposed the petition, citing his “history of disobeying the law and posing a threat to public safety.” The court denied the request in October 2020.11CBS News Minnesota. Shell, Firearm Shannon Gooden Used in Burnsville Responder Slayings Was Straw Purchase
How Gooden Got the Guns
Gooden built his arsenal through Dyrdahl, who acted as a straw buyer. Between September 2023 and January 2024, she purchased five firearms for him, certifying on federal ATF forms each time that she was the actual buyer. Gooden texted her the specific weapons he wanted.12Fox 9. Ashley Dyrdahl Straw Purchasing Sentencing The five purchases were a Glock 47 9mm pistol on September 21, 2023; a Palmetto State Armory Sabre-15 lower receiver on October 18, 2023; a Glock 43X 9mm pistol on October 30, 2023; a Franklin Armory FAI-15 lower receiver on January 5, 2024; and a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 lower receiver on January 25, 2024.
The Franklin Armory FAI-15 and the Palmetto State Armory PA-15 were both used in the shooting. The Franklin Armory rifle was equipped with a binary trigger, which fires one round when the trigger is pulled and a second when it is released.13U.S. Department of Justice. Burnsville Woman Pleads Guilty to Straw Purchasing Firearms Used in Fatal Shooting of First Responders Investigators found loaded magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the bedroom Gooden shared with Dyrdahl.14Star Tribune. Prosecutors Seek Stiff Sentence for Woman Who Bought Guns Used to Kill 3 Burnsville First Responders Every firearm recovered from the scene had been purchased by Dyrdahl and handed off to Gooden.15KTTC. Burnsville Shooter’s Girlfriend Sentenced
Dyrdahl was indicted in March 2024 on 11 federal felonies, including conspiracy, five counts of straw purchasing, and five counts of false statements during a firearm purchase.16U.S. Department of Justice. Burnsville Woman Indicted for Straw Purchasing Firearms Used in Fatal Shooting of Three First Responders In January 2025 she pleaded guilty to two counts of straw purchasing, and the remaining charges were dropped.17CBS News Minnesota. Ashley Dyrdahl Sentencing: Burnsville First Responder Shooting
On September 10, 2025, U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell sentenced Dyrdahl, then 36, to 45 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release. In court she said she was “so sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused” and said she never imagined Gooden would use the weapons.18MPR News. Ashley Dyrdahl, Who Gave Guns to Burnsville Shooter, Faces Sentencing Her defense argued she had been in an abusive relationship with Gooden. Judge Blackwell acknowledged that claim but said the “trauma narrative doesn’t square with repeated transactions over months” and that Dyrdahl “still had agency” when she lied on federal paperwork.19Star Tribune. Nearly 4 Years in Prison for Woman Who Supplied Guns Used to Kill 3 Burnsville First Responders
At sentencing, Sergeant Medlicott addressed Dyrdahl directly: “I was shot twice yet I’m the lucky one. How could you have been so reckless?” Matthew Ruge’s mother, Christi Henke Ruge, told the court, “All of her children are alive but one of mine is dead.”18MPR News. Ashley Dyrdahl, Who Gave Guns to Burnsville Shooter, Faces Sentencing
Why Seven Children Were in the House
Three of the seven children were the biological children of Gooden and Noemi Torres, who met in 2006 and were together for about a decade before separating in 2016. Torres had full custody for four years. In July 2020, Gooden refused to return their nine-year-old daughter during a custody swap, which started a prolonged legal fight.20MPR News. Burnsville Shooter Shannon Gooden Used Legal System Against Accuser
Torres initially secured an emergency order for protection, alleging that Gooden used their children to “manipulate and abuse” her and that he had beaten their son with a belt. A court-appointed guardian ad litem noted the concerns about physical discipline without reaching a conclusion, and Child Protective Services closed its assessments “without findings” after Gooden denied the allegations and promised to stop using physical discipline. Both Torres and Dyrdahl separately filed domestic violence petitions for orders of protection against Gooden, and both were denied.21KARE 11. How Did All Those Children End Up in the Custody of the Burnsville Police Shooter?
Gooden earned more than $100,000 a year doing auto body work and kept an attorney throughout the case. Torres worked as a line cook on a Minneapolis food truck and had to represent herself after her lawyer quit over unpaid bills. Gooden presented more than 300 pages of evidence; Torres lacked documentation to support her claims. He argued she left the children “unattended at all hours” and cited her history of depression and marijuana use.20MPR News. Burnsville Shooter Shannon Gooden Used Legal System Against Accuser
In March 2022, Ramsey County Judge Mark Ireland designated Gooden’s Burnsville home as the children’s primary residence, awarding him 260 overnights a year to Torres’ 105. The judge wrote that Torres’ life was “less stable” and that Gooden was in a “better position to provide for the kids’ needs.” Gooden’s 2008 felony assault conviction was not referenced in the custody proceedings.21KARE 11. How Did All Those Children End Up in the Custody of the Burnsville Police Shooter? Judge Thomas Gilligan then ordered Torres to pay Gooden $300 a month in child support. Her appeal was rejected over missing paperwork.
In January 2024, a month before the shooting, Gooden filed another motion alleging Torres had not paid child support, asking for less parenting time for her and attorney’s fees. The hearing was scheduled for February 20. After Gooden’s death, Judge Gilligan struck the motion as moot, granted Torres sole custody, and ended her child support obligation.20MPR News. Burnsville Shooter Shannon Gooden Used Legal System Against Accuser
Use of Force Finding
On July 2, 2024, Dakota County Attorney Kathryn M. Keena issued a formal determination that the use of deadly force by Sergeant Medlicott, Officer Wical, and Officer Jimenez was legally justified under Minnesota Statute § 609.066. The review found it was “objectively reasonable” for the officers to believe Gooden posed a deadly threat given that he fired first and kept firing for about 13 minutes. Keena said there was “absolutely no doubt the officers were justified” and that the three fallen responders “embodied the spirit of a public servant as they selflessly acted to protect seven children from the hands of Shannon Gooden.”4Dakota County Attorney’s Office. Use of Force Determination
What Changed in Minnesota Law
During its 2024 session, the Minnesota legislature took up firearms legislation prompted by the shooting. The bill, authored by Rep. Kaela Berg and Sen. Heather Gustafson and signed by Governor Tim Walz, upgraded straw purchasing from a gross misdemeanor to a felony and changed the standard from “knowingly” purchasing a firearm for a prohibited person to “reasonably should have known” the recipient was ineligible.22MPR News. New Minnesota Law Aims to Prevent Straw Gun Purchasing The law also banned binary triggers effective January 1, 2025, and created an affirmative defense for domestic violence victims coerced into firearm purchases. Two companion proposals, a safe storage requirement and a mandatory reporting law for lost or stolen firearms, stalled in the Senate.23MinnPost. Minnesota Senate Passes Bill Stiffening Penalties on Straw Purchasing