First responders pinned down as the suspect in Burnsville opened fire,
AJ
Leggo takes us through the eye opening dispatch audio.
Then new information tonight about the suspect
and why he shouldn't have had any guns
and how those who knew the victims and total strangers have stepped
up to show support for the Burnsville police and fire departments.
They all feel so young
and uh
they put their life on the line every day.
The news starts. Now,
thanks for joining us.
We begin tonight with a live look from sky 11 of fallen firefighter,
Adam Finseth being transported to a funeral home in Jordan
from the medical examiner's office in Minnetonka, another somber journey. Today,
he was one of three men killed in the line of duty.
Yesterday, the others were police officer Paul Elms traded and Officer Matthew Rge
both just 27 years old. We have team coverage tonight,
the shooting, the suspect and the victims. But we begin with AJ
Leggo who is walking us through the eye opening
audio between the scene in Burnsville and dispatch.
That shows what these first responders were facing. AJ
and Julie radio dispatches reveal the chaotic
and violent scene early Sunday morning as
officers and first responders came under a barrage of rifle fire pinning them down,
shot,
shot
through the radio,
gunshots echo
heavy gunfire, heavy gunfire from the front just after 5:30 a.m.
Sit down. I'll sit down.
It began around 150 that morning.
Burnsville officers responded to a domestic violence call on 33rd ave south
an hours long standoff ensued. The gunman barricaded inside with seven Children
while officers attempted to negotiate.
They say the suspect whom sources identify is Shannon Cortez Gooden seen
here in a Facebook video from 2014 playing with an air rifle
opened fire with an all too real rifle
from
the
window of this armored vehicle bears proofs
officer
I call back
anyone inside fall back.
Three officers were hit
two
Paul Snd
and Matthew rookie
killed
and I need two additional
ambulances.
Three ambulances
to
the radio traffic reveals first responders vulnerability. We need more armor.
We have a fire truck,
need a fire truck or something parked out in front of this house. We're all came down
paramedic. Adam Finseth was shot and killed, tending to the wounded.
Yeah. Need
to turn lights off now
stop,
stop, stop.
What are the inputs back off?
Medics back off and turn off lights
around 8 a.m. The suspect was reported dead of a
self inflicted gunshot as the Children left the home safely.
I think that dispatch audio is so powerful because
it helps you understand what a chaotic situation it was
and it, it seems like it went on for a long time.
Could you get a sense of how long shots were being fired?
Listening to the audio?
It,
it appears that this uh active fire situation was going on for at least 10 minutes.
We're not sure exactly how much longer
a lot of brave men and women out there in Burnsville that morning. Thank you AJ.
We're also learning more about the gunman,
a man whose ex girlfriend now calls him a monster.
Lou
Russe talked with that woman whose three Children she shared with him
were in the house as Shannon Gooden shot first responders then himself,
Lou
Julie, seven kids and all were in that home during the gunfire.
And the mother of three of them tells me Shannon Gooden asked them if they
wanted to die with him
before he killed himself.
I've confirmed through multiple sources that the girlfriend living
with Gooden called and would want to report child abuse
and that's what brought Burnsville police to the home early Sunday morning.
She later filled in Gooden's ex Noemi Torres who had three kids with
Gooden and was often on the losing end of their ongoing custody battle.
Noemi
says during their abusive relationship,
Gooden would often threaten to shoot police in order to prevent
Noemi from calling 911 on him.
She had no idea Gooden who was ordered by a judge not to possess guns had compiled
such an arsenal of weapons in the home where her kids spent most of their time.
Her kids are back with her now and her daughter told her about the ordeal.
It was just like
you wasn't scared at all.
She was like, no, I was like, did you get a scare at any point in time?
She was like, after my dad had asked me, like,
do you wanna come with me?
And I was just like,
and when he said, come with, does that mean come with to die?
Yeah,
Naomi shared custody with Gooden.
But the judge decided that the kids would spend at least two thirds of their
time living with their dad who had a very stable and high paying job.
Court records show we have much more from this interview coming up at six.
Wow.
All right, we'll see you then. Thank you, Lou.
The two police officers killed,
loved serving the public and being there for others.
It's just one of the many things we're learning about them today.
Gordon Severson continues our team coverage with more
on how they impacted people in their lives.
Gordon,
yes, I'm here at the University of Northwestern in Saint Paul.
This is where Officer Paul Helms
went to school and graduated with a criminal justice degree.
University leaders say his wife also went to school here.
I spoke with one of his professors this afternoon who says that Officer Elms
was one of the most dedicated students she has ever worked with.
He saw policing as more than just a job.
It was his calling his purpose in life to serve his community.
He was also known for his sense of humor making everyone around him laugh.
University leaders say Paul graduated in 2018 and quickly transitioned
to being a full time police officer in Burnsville.
Paul had a clear sense of calling
uh to be a peace officer
and uh he took it very seriously
and I was devastated not only on a
personal level related to the loss of a, a
student, a friend,
but just the loss to the community.
We are also learning more about Officer Matthew RGE
who graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato in 2018.
The university's president says president says
Sergeant Adam Medlicott who was injured in
the shooting also graduated from Mankato in 2007 for more on firefighter,
Adam Finseth.
I'm going to send it over to my colleague, Heidi Wigal
who's in the newsroom for us,
escort and Adam Finseth
lived in Savage.
He served as a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Burnsville
since 2019 and was part of the public safety team swat unit.
The 40 year old was also a water rescue trainer
and on the city's health and Wellness committee tonight,
he's being remembered as a hero.
Adam Finseth
dedicated his life to serving others before he was
a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Burnsville.
He served as a firefighter in Hastings and savage.
The savage fire department says, quote,
Adam embodied the true spirit of a firefighter.
This hits close to home for all of us.
Todd Burke is the director for the Tactical Ems School.
It's a 77 hour program over six days
that shows people how to operate as a tactical medical support component
in a field operations environment. Adam was his student in 2021. Even before
we could see that he had talents as a paramedic that he was a good clinician.
The first thing that we noticed was he always had a smile and a kind word.
He was elected as his team's leader and it was
apparent right away that his concern was for his teammates first
and himself. Second.
Adam was part of the SWAT team called to the incident and they were
in the process of helping resolve that.
And as part of that,
they have paramedics that are assigned to that
team and they were assisting with the officer.
The first one that was injured when the fire is burning, the water is rising,
the bullets are flying.
People that do our job are in harm's way. But we accept that because we know that
there's lives to be saved.
Adam was a Rochester native,
a graduate of John Marshall High School where the community there is grieving
a gofundme for Adams says he was a US army veteran and above all,
a beloved father and loving husband, his friend wrote,
he cherished his family above all else and
worked tirelessly to provide them with love,
support and security.
We have not been able to reach the US army to confirm.
But according to Adams Linkedin,
he served in the army during operation Iraqi freedom.
The prior Lake athletics for youth also expressed their
condolences saying Adam was a volunteer youth baseball coach.
Also that GoFundMe, we mentioned,
the creator says they've paused it until they can connect further with the family.
Julie. All right. Thank you so much, Heidi.
Well,
that outpouring of support for the victims
in the Burnsville community has been massive
people spent today showing up however they could to offer support and condolences.
Kaya Edwards joins us now with more on that Kaya
Julie first thing this morning,
first responders from Burnsville and their family members had some time alone
here at these memorials before they were opened up to the public.
And since then, all day, a steady flow of people.
This is just sort of shocking and unbelievable person after person lays bouquet
after bouquet onto two Burnsville squad cars and
a fire department paramedic truck parked outside City
Hall in honor of the officers and firefighter shot and killed in the line of duty.
These officers,
they leave home to go to work
and they don't come home. I just wanted to bring my daughter out and
kind of pay our respects.
A tough thing to explain. That's, that's for sure.
Hug. After hug.
The visitors ranged from those most connected
to the department to those who only heard
about Sunday's deadly domestic call and felt called to be here the next day.
My mother is deceased,
but she was on my shoulder this morning to say, Billy, you got to go down there, Billy,
you got to go down there.
Those the department has helped before
my husband had a sudden heart attack
and just the kindness of the policemen and the paramedics when that happened.
It was unbelievable.
I just wanted to come and pay my respects to these gentlemen.
I can't even imagine. And as a new widow myself, um
my heart just goes out to these women, to the young Children, to the families,
Chekov,
the Siberian husky and his handler
are trying to provide some relief. We're a
crisis response team
that are registered
by an organization called Pet Partners.
The goal is to encounter as many people as possible and comfort them.
Yeah, City Hall was closed today because of President's Day.
But you really couldn't tell by the looks of it.
People bringing not just flowers but also gifts,
food for those who are around from the various departments.
And as you can see, they do keep arriving here tonight, paying their respects.
Julie, I'm sure it means so much to those officers in the fire department there.
Thank you.
It is during tragedies like this,
that Minnesota's generosity really shines through.
And inevitably, there are people who want to take advantage.
There is a warning tonight about some fundraising sites
that have already popped up related to the deadly shooting
and there is concern they are not legit.
The city of Burnsville has said official donation pages
will be posted later this week on the city's website
and we of course, will share that information with you as well.
Our state legislators took time today to
honor the three victims of yesterday's shooting
the House and Senate both held moments of silence and spoke of the fallen heroes.
I stand today to honor
three heroes that we lost on Sunday.
They were a loss not only to the community that I represent,
but also the entire state of Minnesota
and to some degree the nation.
These men
were our beloved neighbors
who dedicated their lives to the service of others
and they lost their lives, keeping our community and all of us safe.
Stay with Cara Levin for continuing coverage of this developing story.
We'll have updates for you throughout the night on carle.com
and of course, coming up tonight at six and 10.