Suspect who fatally shot 2 officers, 1 first responder was not permitted to own firearm
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The man who fatally shot two Minnesota police officers and a first responder over the weekend was prohibited from owning a firearm and made an unsuccessful bid to overturn the lifelong state ban four years ago, court records show.
A medical examiner identified the slain shooter as Shannon Gooden, 38, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Monday.
He had several guns and large amounts of ammunition when he opened fire on law enforcement officers Sunday while barricaded inside a home with seven children in Burnsville, Minnesota, authorities said.
The children were between the ages of 2 and 15, according to Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Evans said officers were attempting to negotiate with the suspect when he began shooting. He killed police officers Paul Elmstrand, 27, and Matthew Ruge, 27, as well as Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic, city officials said.
They died of their gunshot injuries within 15 minutes of each other, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
Another officer, Adam Medlicott, was shot at the scene and is expected to survive.
Gooden, of Burnsville, also died during the incident, the Department of Public Safety bureau spokesperson said. The medical examiner has not released his cause of death.
Gooden had been employed as a journeyman painter for over a decade at LaMettry's Collision in Burnsville, the business said in a statement to NBC News. It extended its condolences to the first responders and their loved ones.
"We are shocked and saddened by the news of this horror and tragedy," the statement said, adding that Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth "risked everything and made the ultimate sacrifice."
Gooden was prohibited by state law from possessing firearms after he was convicted of second-degree assault in 2007, when he was 21. The incident in a mall parking lot involved a knife, according to Mathew K. Higbee, his attorney at the time.
In 2020, Higbee attempted to reverse what he called a "harsh" ban, arguing that there was "good cause to do so" because Gooden was "not a dangerous criminal" or a "potential risk to the community."
In his plea, Higbee said Gooden took anger management classes while incarcerated and had provided for his longtime girlfriend, her two children and his five children.
"He has done everything he can to put himself back on his feet, move forward, and live the life of a productive and law-abiding member of society," Higbee wrote.
The state statute allows a court to restore a banned person's right to possess a firearm if there is "good cause" to do so and if that person is no longer behind bars.
A judge denied the motion to lift the ban in 2020, court records show. No explanation was provided in the order.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Higbee said the judge had made the "right decision."
"It's comforting to see that the system worked," he said. "I would feel horrible if he did get his firearms rights restored and a month, a year, later this happened."
Higbee said that he was surprised to hear about the shooting and that he did not believe Gooden was capable of such violence in 2020, when he filed the motion.
"I — probably like everyone else, whoever came across him — would have thought this is not something that would happen," he said. "There's just no way to know."
A candlelight vigil for two police officers and a first responder who were shot and killed in Burnsville, Minn., on Sunday.Abbie Parr / AP
At the time of the filing, Higbee said people close to Gooden had vouched for his character. His client also had evidence of rehabilitation and had gone a dozen years without a felony conviction, the attorney said.
Higbee declined to say when he last spoke to Gooden. No appeal or additional motions were filed after the court's rejection, he said.
Higbee called the fatal shooting a "tragedy" for the families of the first responders, as well as for Gooden's.
"Those kids are never going to be the same," he said.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Sunday's fatal shooting.
Authorities said there had been no prior calls for service at the home or regarding the suspected shooter.
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The slant of this story is on guns and gun laws.
A special thanks to the news site Alpha News and the two local Minnesota TV stations KARE11 and WCCO for identifying the shooter before the authorities would.
(Shannon Gooden)/Getty
There is another recent shooting that is directly relevant. In Kansas City the shooters, in custody, from the victory parade about a week ago still haven't been identified. As a matter of fact, the K ansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas on Friday said Missouri Gov. Mike Parson used a dog whistle when he blamed “thugs” for the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally. In that brazen shooting 1 person died and 22 others were injured, (many were children) but don't call the shooters thugs .
We have a much larger problem here than not being able to enforce the many gun laws we have on the books. We have a serious problem of wokeism that has not only corrupted the press but has poisoned the justice system and law enforcement.
Tells me all I need to know about Quinton Lucas, He is obviously a racist is he immediately assumes the term thugs denotes color of their skin.
Well Parson is white and has his perceptions of thugs
and Lucas is black and probably has his own perception of thugs.
I would venture that both perceptions are based on at least some life experiences of racism.
Are they thugs?
Anybody that will harm another person for their own benefit is a thug. Sorry race baiters, it has nothing to do with skin color.
They are the textbook definition of thugs. To refrain from calling them thugs would be racist and textbook white paternalism,
Many on the left equate the term “thug” with black people. Tell me how that’s not racist.
"many" equated BLM as thugs when they rioted, most were black, that can be a fact without it being racist to third party observationalists.
"many" equated ANTIFA as thugs when they protested, rioted or burned shit and they were mostly white.
Was that racist?
"many" equated Bundy and his supporters thugs when they barricaded themselves and created a standoff with BLM and other Federal and State LEOs whom Bundy regarded as jack booted thugs.
Bundys gang was white and most of the LEOs were white is that racist?
Being a thug has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with actions.
So you admit that your statement at 1.1.5 was in error.
Glad we could finally agree on something.
I’ve seen race baiters on this very site accuse others of being racist for using the term “thug” when describing black criminals. I accept your apology in advance.
I am, and believe I said so, in complete agreement with 1.1.7, so glad we could agree, finally.
As for what you have seen on this site as far as what you consider offensive or ugly matters not a thing to me;
in fact I would venture to say that your average behavior here would result in more than just a few people
expressing their opinion of you as being a partisan thug.
Sorry, that was the second or third best laugh of my day.
Speaking if partisan thugs,,,,,,
i think you have me confused with someone that gives a damn about fucked up opinions.
How do you get away with that?
[He got away with it because he received a similar response.]
They could always use the definition of thug.
Wokeism doesn't shoot cops and firemen with firearms they weren't supposed to have.
Why can't you just stick to the topic?
I am discussing a few aspects of the topic, as you can also see in post 4.1.
Some still don't understand who determines topic.
I apologize for the dig and the lack of the /s on my question.
On the other hand, can I ask when you changed your name to Perrie Halpern?
You better hope nobody does.
I understand that this is PH's article, not yours
and you don't get to change the topic just because you got the first comment in.
I do hope we are clear on that.
Ummmm, it is auto generated and uses her name. So I am told. She rarely seeds much at all. Thought you as a mod would know that.
First it is on topic. It relates to the very crimes in the article.
Second: Topic is determined by the seeder/author, not you or your friends.
Since you decided to be such a big shot, you can tell Perrie that I'm taking the issue to Metafield.
It is not auto-generated and I don't know who told you that, because it wasn't me.I do the morning story every day and I try for the most part not to have the article to do with anything dealing with US politics, and I would like them to stay that way.
The topic is not wokism. The topic is the shooting.
And this better not end up in Metafied. I should be able to run the morning article without having to deal with politics and the likes.
?
I believe it was Buzz that told me that. I may be wrong. And you seed articles at 3:00 AM (today's contribution) That is dedication.
!
I thought it was your seed.
I can be right every now and then
SMH !
LOL...
[deleted]
I'm shocked, shocked I say, that the authorities didn't immediately identify the shooter as black and thus make you happy.
How dare they?
I have no problem with the rwnj dog whistle "thugs", as long as they don't have any problem with me referring to users as "klan".
So you think they are primarily democrats using that term?
George...George...George....
We've been over this time and time again. Seems to me that you [Deleted] just don't want to comprehend a subject because it goes against your personal biases
Probably should a pass law to ensure he wouldn’t possess a gun.
LOL, you'd be amazed at how little the poor widow knows about the value of maga hubby's guns after he croaks...
one widow had all the receipts for hubby's guns and insisted that she would not negotiate below the purchase price.
1 - .380 semi-auto pistol - $50
1 - 12 ga. pump shotgun - $100
1 - SKS (chinese AK47 knockoff) 7.62x39 full auto convertible with 4 banana clips and case of NATO ammo - $200
That's cheap. I paid way more than that for my .380
yeah, but mine is still registered to a dead guy...
the SKS was the deal of the decade...
Question, Shouldn't his wife be arrested and going to prison? she is an accessory, as well as any on his family that knew he had several firearms.
He was divorced.
So you have first hand knowledge of the fact she didn't know he had guns? or any of his family? The rules need to be the same for everyone.
1st you have to stipulate which rule you are referring to.
2nd, and I haven't seen this noted anywhere yet, you have to determine how he got the guns. Did he not turn them over in 2007, did he purchase new ones, did he steal them, or are they owned by someone else and he simply appropriated them?
That's probably the case. Most criminals and psychos don't get their guns from gun shops or dealers, or from gun shows.
Most mass shooters legally owned their guns.
Was he ever married?
Doesn't one need to be married to then be divorced? I'm sure he also had a doctor at one time. Maybe a mechanic.... a mother... neighbors... What's your point?
Yes and in 3.1 you said that he was divorced.
It was a question, not a point.
Then your question was answered before you even asked it.
... usually close to 95% of the time.
I’m sure the parents of the Kansas City parade shooters are getting arrested though, right?
So he was banned from having a gun, and he still got one. Give it up, America, you're doomed. Even with more stringent gun control laws, even with more enforcement, when there are more guns than people, and when you can even build your own gun, you're doomed - too many gun lovers, too many gun defenders, you're doomed. Mass shootings every day. American culture is gun culture. Live with it.
In an interview at the World Governments Summit 2024 held in Dubai , Carlson unloaded on President Joe Biden, calling him “senile” and accusing him of bringing down both living standards and life expectancy in the U.S. as he said he was impressed by the Russian capital.
“What was radicalizing, very shocking and very disturbing for me was the city of Moscow, where I’d never been, the biggest city in Europe, 13 million people, and it is so much nicer than any city in my country,” Carlson said.
“It is so much cleaner and safer and prettier aesthetically, its architecture, its food, its service than any city in the United States,” he continued.
Tucker Carlson Praises Moscow As ‘So Much Nicer’ Than Any U.S. City (msn.com)
Buzz, I think we are both old enough to remember when the US was the safest country in the world, and it had less gun laws. So how did a place like Moscow become safer than let us say Los Angeles?
The combination of The Second Amendment and the NRA.
Probably because courts did not make examples of earlier killers
Right, Russia is so safe that political opposition is thrown in a prison colony and executed.
Protestors are arrested. That's the place I want to live
Safer says who? How many countries have Wiki pages about how many businessmen or political opponents have fallen out of high rise buildings?
Suspicious deaths of Russian businesspeople (2022–2024) - Wikipedia
Full List of Russians to Fall Out of Windows Since Putin Invaded Ukraine (newsweek.com)
Updated: A list of oligarchs and Putin critics found dead since Ukraine war | Euronews
I can only advise Hanoi Jane to move over and make room for Tucker the Putin Patsy.
This is complete and utter nonsense.
Doesn't the abuser usually control his temper around the people he is NOT abusing? Just because the abuser was not being reported does not mean that he was not abusing someone or several someones. The abuse was not reported for many reasons - misguided love/compassion, fear, etc.
I have read reports that most murders are actually planned months in advance.
The judge, in this instance, may have been educated on profiles of abusers. Such education should be mandatory for everyone employed in education and law enforcement.
If this is a case where domestic violence has occurred in the past, he may have been barred from having weapons and munitions under the Lautenberg Amendment
Under the Criminal Resource Manual ( CRM 1000-1499):
I don't recall anything in the article about domestic violence. That doesn't mean that it's a factor in all this.
Either way, it was determined he not eligible to have weapons and he did.
As usual for me, I had researched for more information about the perp that would explain why the judge denied the access to guns despite the lawyer's insistence that Gooden was just a good old boy incapable of violence/abuse.
The "justice" system worked so well for Gooden that a judge had ordered that Gooden had primary physical custody of his children. Sadly, this is all too typical of how abusers are so successful at portraying themselves as the victim and the real victim as the abuser - or maybe the judge hates women because of his/her own mommy issues.
A person who should not have a gun got a gun?!?!?! All those gun control laws the left keeps trying to push on everybody failed?
... all those gun purchasing loopholes left open by maga russian assets for the NRA?
estate sales are where the bargains are, especially when it's grandpa that kicked the bucket...
[deleted]
Because that what what to do with what I said? FFS keep up.