Not sure why anyone would want to be a police officer. Oftentimes they are completely out-gunned.
Burnsville Minnesota, where the murder of 2 police officers and 1 paramedic occurred, is an affluent suburb. The February 911 call from the Burnsville home was about an alleged sexual assault. 3 police officers were in the home negotiating with the man,
Shannon Cortez Gooden, to surrender peacefully. Gooden had himself, the girlfriend (
Ashley Dyrdahl), and 7 children barricaded in the home.
As a felon, Gooden was barred from possessing guns. After several hours of negotiation, Gooden came out of nowhere, firing, and hitting all 3 police officers in the home. The 3 police officers retreated from the home; 2 eventually died from their wounds. 1 Burnsville paramedic, who went running towards the officers, was struck and killed.
The story from today from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Federal charges: Girlfriend bought AR-15 style firearms for felon weeks before Burnsville Minnesota Ambush
Shannon Cortez Gooden, who murdered 2 Burnsville MN police officers and 1 paramedic, was legally barred from possessing guns at the time of the Feb. 18 standoff that claimed the lives of 3 first responders.
By Stephen Montemayor
Minneapolis Star Tribune
MARCH 14, 2024 — 11:25AM
United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger spoke during a press conference at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
A Burnsville Minnesota woman has been federally indicted on allegations of straw purchasing multiple guns eventually used in the killing of three Burnsville first responders last month by the man who was prohibited from having them.
Ashley Anne Dyrdahl, 35, has been indicted on 11 counts including conspiracy, straw purchasing and making false statements for procuring five firearms on behalf of 38-year-old Shannon Cortez Gooden. The two AR-15 style firearms used in the Feb. 18 shooting were purchased by Dyrdahl on Jan. 5 and Jan. 25, respectively, this year -- just weeks before Gooden shot and killed
officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, before he fatally shot himself. Dyrdahl lived at the home with Gooden on the day police were called in response to a domestic abuse call, where Gooden barricaded himself in the home with seven children, leading to an hourslong standoff before the fatal shots were fired.
"Now today we can answer the questions Minnesotans have been asking since Feb. 18," U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said at a news conference Thursday.
"Ashley Dyrdahl didn't shoot anybody, make no mistake," said Drew Evans, superintended of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). "But Ashley Dyrdahl handed him the guns, and for this she must be held accountable."
Evans said the BCA's broader investigation into the shooting is "still very active and ongoing," but the probe into how Gooden acquired the guns he used has since been "broken off" from the investigation. Gooden also wounded Burnsville Police Sgt. Adam Medlicott during the shootout.
Luger said that Dyrdahl is in the process of surrendering to U.S. Marshals and will make her first appearance at 3 p.m. before a federal magistrate judge in St. Paul. He said his office will not seek pretrial detention.
According to the indictment:
In 2016, Dyrdahl began a relationship with Gooden, and by at least 2019 knew that he had previously been convicted of second-degree assault, a felony, which precluded him from owning firearms. In 2019, she filed a letter in support of Gooden's petition to restore his firearm rights in which she acknowledged his conviction and crime. That petition would later be denied.
"Despite knowing of Gooden's felony status, between September of 2023 and January of 2024, Dyrdahl purchased five firearms from two different federal firearms licensees (FFLs) and knowingly and intentionally transferred the firearms to Gooden," the indictment said.
As part of the conspiracy, the indictment alleges Gooden sent Dyrdahl text messages of firearms he wanted her to buy for him. She would then place the orders at the FFLs and filled out federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms forms stating that she was the actual buyer of the firearms, and that she was not planning to transfer them to a felon. During a text mesage exchange between Dyrdahl and Gooden, the two discussed background checks and other questions from firearm sellers, in which Dyrdahl allegedly told Gooden, "We just gotta make sure we're smart about all this ya know?"
Mourners stand in front of portraits left to right of Burnsville police officer Paul Elmstrand, 27, firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, and Burnsville police officer Matthew Ruge, 27, after watching a live stream of a memorial service for the trio at Prince of Peace in Burnsville, Minn., Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
According to the indictment, among the firearms Dyrdahl bought and transferred to Gooden at his direction were three semiautomatic AR-15–style firearm lower-receivers. One of these was a Franklin Armory FAI-15 .300-caliber semiautomatic firearm that was equipped with a binary trigger. A firearm with a binary trigger fires one shot when the trigger is pulled, and another when the trigger is released, effectively doubling the rate of fire. Dyrdahl also purchased a .300-caliber barrel for the lower receiver.
Dyrdahl knew that Gooden was loading the semiautomatic AR-15–style firearms with .300 Blackout ammunition, which is a heavier load ammunition that has an increased potential for lethality, prosecutors said.
A conviction in 2008 for second-degree assault in Dakota County
prohibited Gooden from possessing firearms or ammunition. In August 2020, Gooden petitioned the court unsuccessfully to regain his right to a gun. He said that he wanted to protect himself and his family, according to court records.
Noemi del Carmen Torres told the Star Tribune this week that she was the first of five people called by prosecutors on Tuesday for questioning before the grand jury's secret proceedings. She said she was asked Gooden's history of possessing firearms and whether he would have been able to force her to buy any guns on his behalf.
"No, I don't want any of that because I feel like he was gonna kill me," Torres said in an interview, noting that Gooden was abusive toward her. "I feared for my life, and that's what I told them."
One of the firearms seized by law enforcement was bought illegally in what is commonly called a "straw purchase," according to the owner of the gun shop where the weapon was obtained weeks before the shooting. John McConkey
told the Star Tribune last month that an AR-15 lower receiver was picked up by the purchaser at the Modern Sportsman Gun Shop and Range in Burnsville, roughly 6 miles from where Gooden lived. McConkey said at the time that he did not know whether that weapon was fired during the standoff.
Dakota County Attorney Kathryn Keena joined the law enforcement leaders during the presentation as well. Her office is reviewing the BCA's report.
Travis Riddle, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in St. Paul, was scheduled to appear, as was Burnsville Fire Chief BJ Jungmann and Burnsville Police Chief Tanya Schwartz.
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Burnsville Police Chief Tanya Schwartz spoke during the announcement that Ashley Anne Dyrdahl has been indicted for placing firearms in the hands of Shannon Gooden on Thursday.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Travis Riddle spoke during the announcement that Ashley Anne Dyrdahl has been indicted for placing firearms in the hands of Shannon Gooden on Thursday.
Shannon Cortez Gooden was legally barred from possessing guns at the time of the Feb. 18 standoff that claimed the lives of three first responders.
www.startribune.com
