MINNEAPOLIS — Newly released police body camera footage captures in vivid detail the moment when a gunman barricaded in a Burnsville home abruptly ended negotiations to surrender and opened fire on first responders, killing three of them.

The line-of-duty deaths early on a frigid morning two years ago marked the most casualties in a Minnesota police encounter in at least 30 years, and during a particularly deadly year for law enforcement in the state.

Burnsville police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, along with Adam Finseth, a 40-year-old Burnsville firefighter and medic, were shot Feb. 18, 2024, while responding to a call from gunman Shannon Cortez Gooden’s girlfriend alleging sexual abuse.

Police negotiated overnight for 3 1/2 hours with Gooden, 38, who resisted calls to surrender and had barricaded himself upstairs in the house with seven children ages 5 to 15.

Gooden unleashed more than 100 shots during the gun battle and was wounded after two surviving officers returned fire. He later took his own life inside the home.

On March 4, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension posted 12 redacted police body camera videos on its website — eight from Burnsville officers and four from officers from nearby cities. The videos captured scenes from both inside and outside the home as the shootings continued.

The BCA’s file page did not note when the videos were posted, nor did the agency issue any statements about the videos being publicly accessible in the three weeks since they went live.

BCA spokesman Mike Ernster said the BCA met its legal requirements in the posting of the case file and followed its practice of doing so without a public announcement.

The agency also posted hundreds of photographs from the home and of some of the officers who responded that night. They include images of bullet-riddled walls, and a bedroom floor littered with ammunition magazines and a stuffed animal.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Burnsville Police Department said: “We are incredibly proud of the heroic actions of our police and fire/EMS personnel that day, including efforts that saved seven children, and we recognize that this release will be difficult for many in our community and departments who continue to heal.”

The families of Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth released a joint statement. “Adam, Matt, and Paul were men of deep courage and selflessness, but to us, they were so much more — husbands, sons, fathers, and the people who made our lives whole. We are so proud of who they were, and we miss them every single day," it said.

The families also asked that the video not be distributed further online, explaining that “for our families, this is not just video; it is the most painful moment of our lives, and sharing it only deepens that trauma.”

Ernster told The Minnesota Star Tribune on Wednesday that “these are painful images of a tragic event” that were required to be released under Minnesota law.

“We worked extensively with the agencies involved and, through them, with the families so that they understood what was being released, and (they) had the opportunity to view the material in advance if they chose to do so.”

The Star Tribune is sharing excerpts from the video, given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the shooting, including the lengths first responders went to save their colleagues while not endangering the lives of the children in the house.

The footage, which begins about three hours into the standoff, shows Ruge, Elmstrand and other officers in the dining room. Ruge is negotiating with Gooden, who is upstairs. Ruge urges him to come down for the sake of his children, and Gooden responds: “I’m getting tired man, I’m thinking about coming down there, man, with my hands up.”

Ruge assures him he will be treated professionally and respectfully upon his surrender.

“So this is what I’ll tell you, Shannon, when you come downstairs, so you see this little entryway from the front door into your kitchen that we’re standing ...”

But the instructions are never finished. Gooden fires from an upper-level hall and sends the six officers in the house scrambling for cover. Elmstrand’s body camera continues recording after he is shot, collapses in the kitchen and is pulled to the driveway.

Burnsville officers called for an armored vehicle as more shots erupted and the officers scrambled for the front yard.

After two initial bursts of gunfire, Sgt. Adam Medlicott told fellow officers he was hit in the arm but repeated “I’m fine” as he maintained focus on getting Elmstrand transported and ensuring remaining officers were out of the house.

“I’m hit in the arm, but I’m OK. Help them, help them,” he said.

Medlicott would be struck again, this time in the back by another volley of gunfire, but it didn’t penetrate his protective vest.

Medics, including one who appeared to be Finseth, continued treating Elmstrand while still more gunfire came from the home. An arriving ambulance driver was ordered to back away as the shooting persisted.

Gooden continued shooting for 13 minutes, according to footage and findings by the Dakota County attorney’s office. The officers, pinned down by gunfire, are struggling to get the wounded loaded and transported when Finseth and Ruge are shot.

Video from Officer Peter Mueller shows him and others outside aiding Elmstrand. Ruge appears in view to assist. Mueller pulls Ruge aside and lifts his shirt to expose a chest wound. They determine it wasn’t “piercing,” or didn’t penetrate his chest.

“I’m good, look to somebody else,” Ruge says to Mueller. “Are you good?”

Seconds later, shots erupt and Ruge is hit again, fatally this time.

Another video shows officers piling into the back of the armored vehicle while Gooden continues shooting from the home. They then load the mortally wounded Elmstrand, Finseth and Ruge into the vehicle as they instruct the driver how to navigate out of harm’s way.

As Gooden continues to fire at them, one officer cautions the others that “we have seven kids in there. We cannot shoot back right now.”

Ruge was the last of the three to be loaded into the armored vehicle and driven to a safer location nearby for medical attention.

“We got to get out of sight of that house,” one officer said. “We need to get these guys out. We need ambulances.”

One of the children later called 911 and told a dispatcher that Gooden shot himself.

Nearly five hours after the shooting stopped, a police SWAT team deemed the house secured and used a drone to find Gooden’s body.

Gooden’s girlfriend, 37-year-old Ashley Dyrdahl, admitted in January 2025 that she bought the guns her boyfriend used to kill the three first responders. A second-degree assault conviction had prohibited Gooden from possessing firearms since 2008. In September 2025, Dyrdahl was sentenced in federal court to nearly four years in prison.

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