Investigators: Man who killed 3 Minnesota responders opened fire without warning, inside his house

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Photos of Burnsville police officers, from left, Paul Elmstrand, Matthew Ruge and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth are displayed during a community vigil, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 in Burnsville, Minn. Members of the community gathered to honor the three first responders, who were killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic situation Sunday, Feb. 18. A fourth police officer, also shot by the suspect, was wounded and is recovering. (Mara H. Gottfried/Pioneer Press via AP)

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This undated photo released by the City of Burnsville shows Burnsville police officer Matthew Ruge. Two police officers, including Ruge, and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, and a third officer was injured at a suburban Minneapolis home while responding to a call involving an armed man who had barricaded himself inside with family. (City of Burnsville via AP)

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This undated photo released by the City of Burnsville shows Burnsville police officer Paul Elmstrand. Two police officers, including Elmstrand, and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, and a third officer was injured at a suburban Minneapolis home while responding to a call involving an armed man who had barricaded himself inside with family. (City of Burnsville via AP)

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This undated photo released by the City of Burnsville shows Burnsville police officer Paul Elmstrand. Two police officers, including Elmstrand and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, and a third officer was injured at a suburban Minneapolis home while responding to a call involving an armed man who had barricaded himself inside with family. (City of Burnsville via AP)

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This photo provided by the Burnsville, Minn., Fire Department shows Burnsville firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth. Finseth and Burnsville Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge were killed when responding to a call early Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. (Mike Klarich/Burnsville Fire Department via AP)

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This photo provided by The City of Burnsville, Minn., shows Sgt. Adam Medlicott. Two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024 at a home in n Burnsville, Minn. Medlicott, was injured and being treated at a hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, the city said. (The City of Burnsville, Minn., via AP)

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This booking photo provided by Dakota County Sheriff’s Office shows Shannon Gooden, on Aug. 29, 2007. Authorities on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, identified 38-year-old Gooden as the man who opened fire on police in the suburb of Burnsville, in Minneapolis, after they responded to a domestic disturbance call early Sunday. Two police officers and a firefighter-paramedic were killed and the man identified as the shooter fatally shot himself, police said. (Dakota County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

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Taylor Jacobs, center, who was with Burnsville Police for 10 years, embraced members of the department’s honor guard Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 outside the Ballad-Sunder Funeral and Cremation in Jordan, Minn. Two young police officers and a firefighter-paramedic were killed in a burst of gunfire Sunday as they responded to a domestic disturbance call in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. Another officer also was injured, and the man identified as the shooter fatally shot himself, police said. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP)

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One of the three memorials outside the Burnsville Police Department and City Hall is seen in Burnsville, Minn., on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. Two police officers and a firefighter who responded to a domestic situation at a suburban Minneapolis home were killed early Sunday. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

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Eden Prairie police officers pause next to memorials in front of the Burnsville Police Department in Burnsville, Minn., Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Two police officers and a firefighter who responded to a domestic situation at a suburban Minneapolis home were killed early Sunday during a standoff by a heavily armed man who shot at police from the home where seven children were also inside. (Craig Lassig/Pioneer Press via AP)

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A health care worker weeps near a memorial in front of the Burnsville Police Department in Burnsville, Minn., Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday and a third officer was injured at a suburban Minneapolis home in an exchange of gunfire while responding to a call involving an armed man who had barricaded himself inside with family. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

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Zach Osterberg, of the Savage Fire Department, hugs his son Lincoln as they paid their respect at three memorials in front of the Burnsville Police Department in Burnsville, Minn., Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed early Sunday and a third officer was injured at a suburban Minneapolis home in an exchange of gunfire while responding to a call involving an armed man who had barricaded himself inside with family. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

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Superintendent of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Drew Evans speaks at a press conference after two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in Burnsville, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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A firetruck with a flag at half mast sits outside Burnsville City Hall after two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in Burnsville, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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A police vehicle with what appears to be bullet pockmarks is towed near the scene where two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, in Burnsville, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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A poster sits the grass outside the Burnsville, Minn. police station, where people could leave handwritten messages, during a vigil, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, for Burnsville Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and Firefighter/Paramedic Adam Finseth, who were killed in the line of duty on Feb. 18, 2024. (Mara H. Gottfried/Pioneer Press via AP)

By STEVE KARNOWSKI

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The man who killed two Minnesota police officers and a firefighter-paramedic opened fire on officers without warning while they were inside his house, after they had been negotiating with him for around 3 1/2 hours, investigators revealed Thursday.

Officers inside the home in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville returned fire and wounded the man before making it outside. The firefighter was shot while aiding the wounded officers, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement. In all, the man fired more than 100 rounds at police and first responders, the agency said.

Police were dispatched to the home for what investigators have described as a domestic incident around 1:50 a.m. Sunday. The arriving officers spoke with Shannon Gooden, 38, who refused to leave the home but said he was unarmed and that he had children inside, the BCA said in its first detailed update on the case since Sunday.

“The officers entered the home and negotiated with Gooden for about three and a half hours in an effort to get him to surrender peacefully,” the BCA statement said. “At about 5:26 a.m., Gooden opened fire on the officers inside the home without warning.”

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Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and Sgt. Adam Medlicott, 38, are believed to have been first shot inside the home, the BCA said. Medlicott and another officer, who was not injured, returned fire from inside the home, wounding Gooden in the leg, the statement said.

“Both Ruge and Medlicott were shot a second time as officers were moving from the home to an armored vehicle in the driveway,” the statement said. Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic who was assigned to the city’s SWAT team, was shot while trying to aid the officers.

Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth were pronounced dead at a hospital. Medlicott survived and is recovering at home.

“Gooden continued to fire shots out of the home at officers and the armored vehicle that had personnel inside,” the BCA said.

At one point, while Gooden was shooting out of an upstairs window, another officer returned fire with his sniper rifle. The standoff ended when Gooden killed himself.

“The SWAT team found his body when they cleared the house at 10:15 a.m.,” the statement said.

Crime scene personnel recovered “several firearms and a large amount of ammunition” at the scene, as well as “numerous” cartridge casings, it said.

According to a transcript of the initial 911 call, obtained by local media outlets, the caller asked for police to come “right now.” The person said “my husband is” but the next words were redacted. Then the caller said, “Help me,” before cursing and screaming from someone followed. The call then ended abruptly. The dispatcher tried to call back four times without success.

A search warrant application released Wednesday, which was filed by a BCA agent, said the 911 call was “regarding an alleged sexual assault allegation,” without elaborating. The Thursday update provided no details about the call.

The search warrant application said police using a drone found Gooden dead in the bedroom. The medical examiner confirmed he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The BCA filed for the warrant to search the phone of Gooden’s ex-girlfriend, Noemi Torres, the mother of three of the seven children who were inside home but were unharmed by the gunfire. The agent wanted access to text messages between Torres and Gooden’s current girlfriend that they exchanged during and after the incident.

The agent, who took Torres’ phone into evidence, also wanted to see messages between Gooden and Torres from last week, which Torres told the agent was the last time they communicated, as well as any other communications, photos or other information on the phone that could be useful to the investigation.

Court records show Gooden 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. The children in the house were ages 2 to 15 years. Authorities have not said how he obtained the weapons.

Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, said that even with the new details, it’s too early to evaluate the police response, given the still-limited information that has been made public.

“There’s still not a lot of information there that would be needed, really, to sort of provide any kind of meaningful feedback as to the actual tactics and the things that were done there,” Eells said.

It’s still not clear, he said, whether the officers inside the house were among the first to arrive or if they were sent later to negotiate. And it’s still not clear when the SWAT team was called in, and why or when the armored vehicle arrived. He said it is also unclear how the presence of children inside affected decisions made at the scene.

“Lots of questions, and really not enough information to provide any objective answers at this point,” said Eells, a retired Colorado Springs, Colorado, police commander who formerly led that department’s SWAT team.

Once the investigation is complete, the BCA said, it will forward its findings without a charging decision to the Dakota County prosecutor’s office without any charging recommendations.

A public memorial service for Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 at Grace Church in suburban Eden Prairie.