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Firearm Shannon Gooden used in Burnsville shooting that killed 3 responders was straw purchase
MINNEAPOLIS — One of the guns used by Shannon Gooden in a deadly Burnsville standoff earlier this month was a straw purchase made through a local firearms shop and range in January.
WCCO Senior Investigative Reporter Jennifer Mayerle has confirmed that the firearm, an AR-15 lower receiver, was a transfer purchase from The Modern Sportsman in Burnsville.
A straw purchase is when somebody legally buys a gun for someone else who is prohibited from owning one, such as a person convicted of a felony that’s a violent crime. It is a crime to commit a straw purchase, according to Minnesota law; it’s considered a gross misdemeanor.
Gooden fatally shot police officers Matthew Ruge and Paul Elmstrand and firefighter and paramedic Adam Finseth during a standoff early Sunday, Feb. 18, authorities say.
The owner of The Modern Sportsman, John McConkey, told Mayerle it came in as an online order from out of state. The buyer had to pick up the gun at a dealer to do the paperwork. The Modern Sportsman transferred the firearm to the individual who was not Gooden. McConkey told Mayerle the straw purchaser picked up the gun by themselves and said the clerk did their due diligence asking questions to make sure the gun was for the buyer. He said the person was knowledgeable and answered the questions asked. The AR-15 lower receiver was picked up on Jan. 5, 2024.
Gooden was barred from owning firearms or ammunition. He petitioned the courts to restore his gun rights back in 2020. The judge denied the petition in October of 2020. The county attorney opposed the petition saying the “Petitioner’s history of disobeying the law and posing a threat to public safety coupled with an insignificant passage of time demonstrates that, at this time, Petitioner has not demonstrated he can safely possess firearms. Petitioner’s inability to possess firearms for life is a consequence of committing a crime of violence, which Petitioner should have considered when he committed the crime.”
City of Burnsville
A search warrant shows that Gooden shot at officers with “what is believed to be multiple different weapons.” The BCA reports Gooden fired more than 100 rifle rounds during the incident. Investigators recovered several firearms and a large amount of ammunition at the scene.
Elmstrand, 27, had been with the Burnsville Police Department since 2017 and was promoted in 2019. He was also a part-time officer with the University of Minnesota Police Department. Ruge, also 27, joined the Burnsville Police Department in 2020. Finseth, 40, had been a firefighter and SWAT paramedic in the city since 2019. He previously worked with the fire departments in Savage and Hastings, and was also an Army veteran. Sgt. Adam Medlicott was also injured and has since been released from the hospital.
The three first responders killed will be memorialized with a public funeral Wednesday morning. The joint funeral will take place at Grace Church in Eden Prairie at 11 a.m. The families have also planned private funerals for each victim.
Gooden died by suicide, according to the medical examiner’s report.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the confrontation.
The killings now have some lawmakers revisiting gun control measures at the Capitol. Last legislative session, DFL representatives in the House and Senate passed both a red flag law and an additional background checks law. Both were strongly opposed by gun rights advocates. Left over from last year are two measures that were never voted on. Those include tougher gun storage laws and penalties, as well as a bill requiring immediate reporting of all lost and stolen guns.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@nami.org.
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
Warner Bros. Pictures / Getty Images
To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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