A former Minneapolis council candidate said he doesn’t ‘feel bad’ two police officers were shot dead during a domestic call out, where a firefighter also died.
Cops Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and firefighter and paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, were killed after responding to a ‘domestic incident’ at a Minneapolis home on Sunday morning.
The gunman, later identified as 38-year-old Shannon Gooden, then shot and killed himself.
The same day, in a video posted on Instagram, former council candidate Zach Metzger said: ‘Is it wrong that I don’t feel bad that the police were killed, but I do feel bad the firefighter was killed?’
Activist Metzger ran for the Democrats for Ward 13 of city council and lost last year.
Former Council candidate Zach Metzger said he ‘didn’t feel bad’ the police were killed
One of his main policies was to defund the police, but he lost by over 5,000 votes.
In his Instagram video about the shooting he listed the number of people killed by police and the number of police officers killed in the line of duty this year.
He said: ‘2023 was the most deadly year at the hands of police, with 1,348 people reportedly being killed by the police, while 134 police were killed in the line of duty.’
He then added: ‘Is it wrong that I don’t feel bad that the police were killed, but I do feel bad the firefighter was killed?’
In an interview with Southwest Voices during his campaign, he said: ‘We have alternatives to traditional police, which are so often extremely dangerous to our neighbors.’
The officers were called to a report of a ‘family in danger’ at a house in 33rd Avenue South, Burnsville, shortly after 2.30am.
They spoke with the gunman, Gooden, who claimed he was unarmed and had children inside the house. The officers then entered the home where they spoke with Gooden for three and a half hours.
Police said Gooden then opened fire on the officers inside the home without warning. Over the course of the shooting he fired over 100 rounds at officers.
Ruge, Elmstrand, and a third officer, Medlicott, are thought to have been initially shot inside the home.
Medlicott and Wical returned fire while inside the home, striking Gooden in the leg.
They then left the house trying to get to an armoured vehicle on the road outside and were shot again. Finseth was then shot and killed while trying to give them medical attention.
Gooden then died by suicide, when officers searched the home they found multiple guns and rounds of ammunition.
He listed the number of people killed by police in 2023 and the number of police killed in the line of duty
Burnsville police officer Matthew Ruge. The officers were called to a report of a ‘family in danger’ at a house in 33rd Avenue South, Burnsville, shortly after 2.30am
Burnsville police officer Paul Elmstrand
Burnsville firefighter and paramedic Adam Finseth
A shelter-in-place alert was sent to phones in the area 15 miles south of the city center.
Police said the armed man barricaded himself in a Burnsville home with seven children.
Gooden was renting the home the first responders showed up to, according to property records.
He had previous convictions for disorderly conduct in 2004 and 2005, as well as a second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon conviction in 2007.
Court records also show the state barred Gooden from possessing guns after he pleaded guilty in 2008, aged 22, to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors said he threw rocks and pulled a knife on a man in a Burnsville shopping mall parking lot.
Gooden also notably had a petition to restore his right to a firearm denied in 2020 and was entangled in a years-long dispute over the custody and financial support of his three oldest children.
Authorities told NBC News he was in possession of several guns and large amounts of ammunition.
He and his girlfriend were living together with seven children – the three oldest by one woman, two more with another and that woman’s two children from a previous relationship – between the ages of two and 15. It is believed all of them made it out of the house safely.
His standoff with police came only two days before a scheduled district court hearing over his ongoing legal disputes with the mother of his three oldest children.
Online court records show that those children spent most nights with him, but that he still he wanted to go back to court. The records do not say why.
When he petitioned a court unsuccessfully in 2020 to have his gun rights restored, he and his attorney said he had matured and that he regretted his past poor decisions.
Minnesota state governor Tim Walz ordered flags to be flown at half-staff starting from sunrise tomorrow, and the killings have appalled police departments across the state.
‘We are heartbroken. Our law enforcement community is heartbroken,’ tweeted The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.
‘We’re just devastated at the horrific loss. These heroes leave behind loved ones and a community who will forever remember their bravery and dedication keeping Minnesotans safe.’
Dozens of heavily armed officers descended on the street in Burnsville after the shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning
Officers had been called to a report of a ‘family in danger’ at a house in 33rd Avenue South, around 15 miles south of Minneapolis city center
Authorities in the state are expected told a press conference shortly
Dozens of heavily armed police officers descended on the street and a SWAT vehicle was seen with multiple bullet holes on its windshield.
A barricade situation developed amid fears that hostages were being held inside the home and the gunman is thought to have killed himself shortly before 6am.
‘While responding to a call of a family in danger, two police officers and one firefighter lost their lives, and other officers were injured,’ the governor tweeted.
‘We must never take for granted the bravery and sacrifices our police officers and first responders make every day. My heart is with their families today and the entire State of Minnesota stands with Burnsville.’
Rep. Jim Nash tweeted: ‘My heart is heavy for the families of these officers, the community of Burnsville, and for our country because this headline is not unique.’
‘Learned from police this morning that three officers have been shot in Burnsville,’ Sen. Amy Klobuchar added.
‘They were doing their jobs. They were protecting our community.’
