XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, mn.politics, alt.politics.usa.republican   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: tim-walz-is-a-bitch@minnesota.guv   
      
   ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Investigators are still piecing together what   
   happened when two police officers and a firefighter were slain while   
   responding to a domestic incident at home in suburban Minneapolis.   
      
   The three were killed early Sunday by a man who began shooting from the home   
   in Burnsville, a city of around 64,000 that’s about 15 miles (24 kilometers)   
   south of downtown Minneapolis, investigators say. Seven children were inside.   
      
   The fallen first responders were Burnsville Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and   
   Matthew Ruge, both 27, and Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic who   
   was assigned to the city’s SWAT team. A third officer, Sgt. Adam Medlicott,   
   was wounded and is    
   recovering at home.   
      
   The gunman, Shannon Gooden, 38, of Burnsville, died of a self-inflicted   
   gunshot wound to the head, the medical examiner said. Court records show he   
   wasn’t legally allowed to have guns because of his criminal record and had   
   been entangled in a yearslong    
   dispute over the custody and financial support of his three oldest children.   
      
   Here’s a look at what’s known — and not known — about the shootings:   
      
   WHAT’S KNOWN   
      
   Police got a 911 call around 1:50 a.m. Sunday about a “domestic situation   
   where a man was reported to be armed and barricaded with family members in the   
   home,” according to Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of   
   Criminal Apprehension,    
   which is leading the investigation. That included seven children ages 2 to 15   
   years. Evans declined to say which resident called.   
      
   The arriving officers “spent quite a bit of time” negotiating with Gooden,   
   Evans told reporters Sunday. At some point — he declined to specify when —   
   Gooden opened fire.   
      
   Gooden was “reported to be deceased in the home” around 8 a.m., Evans   
   said, and the children and other family members were later able to escape. The   
   superintendent declined to say how long officers negotiated with him.   
      
   WHAT ISN’T KNOWN   
      
   Because the case is still under investigation, the BCA hasn’t released more   
   than broad outlines of what transpired. That’s common in major cases as   
   investigators gather evidence. But that also leaves major gaps in the   
   narrative.   
      
   Evans declined to say what kind of weapons Gooden had, except that   
   investigators found “several guns and large amounts of ammunition.”   
      
   Authorities haven’t said how Gooden obtained the guns. Court records show   
   the state barred him from possessing firearms after he pleaded guilty in 2008,   
   when he was 22, to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors   
   said he threw rocks    
   and pulled a knife on a man in a shopping mall parking lot. He unsuccessfully   
   petitioned a court in 2020 to have his gun rights restored.   
      
   BCA spokeswoman Bonney Bowman said the bureau didn’t plan to issue any   
   updates Wednesday but may issue a news release by the end of the week.   
      
   THE VICTIMS   
      
   Elmstrand, who grew up in North Branch, joined the Burnsville Police   
   Department in 2017 as a community service officer and became a full-fledged   
   officer in 2019. He was a member of the mobile command staff.   
      
   Ruge, who grew up in Wabasha, joined the force in 2020. He was part of the   
   crisis negotiations team.   
      
   Finseth was an Army veteran from Rochester who was twice deployed to Iraq. He   
   joined the fire department in 2019.   
      
   Medlicott joined the police force in 2014 and was promoted to sergeant in   
   2022. He was named Burnsville Officer of the Year in 2020.   
      
   A joint, public memorial service for Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth will be held   
   at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, a suburb northwest of   
   Burnsville.   
      
   THE POLITICAL ANGLE   
      
   Lawmakers who support stronger gun safety laws were reluctant Wednesday to   
   link their proposals to the Burnsville tragedy. They held a news conference to   
   highlight bills that would mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms,   
   tighten requirements for    
   safe storage of guns and ammunition at homes, and secure new funding for   
   violence prevention services.   
      
      
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