A Burnsville woman has been indicted for the straw purchase of multiple firearms used in the killing of three Burnsville, Minnesota first responders.
Two police officers and a firefighter paramedic were killed and a third police officer was injured in Burnsville on February 18th.
The charges were announced Thursday morning by U.S Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger.
"Law enforcement has been working around the clock to investigate the violent events of that day," explained Luger. "As we quickly learned in the aftermath of February 18th, Shannon Gooden, a convicted felon, used two AR-15 style firearms to shoot and kill these three men and to wound Burnsville sergeant Adam Medlicott. But since that tragic day, law enforcement and the public have been asking the same question, how did a violent felon obtain these firearms? Immediately after the tragic shootings, highly experienced BCA agents with the support of the ATF set out to find the answer."
According to court documents, between September 21, 2023, and January 25, 2024, Ashley Anne Dyrdahl, 35, conspired with Shannon Cortez Gooden to place firearms in Gooden’s hands, despite the fact Gooden could not legally own or possess firearms.
"She did this with the knowledge that he was prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms," explained Luger. "These five weapons included powerful AR-15 style firearms and semi automatic Glock pistols."
Dyrdahl is said to have surrendered to the U.S. Marshall and is scheduled to make her first court appearance in St. Paul Thursday afternoon.
On February 18, 2024, Gooden used the firearms that Dyrdahl supplied to murder the two police officers and the firefighter paramedic, and injure a third officer, during an armed stand-off with law enforcement officers who were responding to a call for help.
The indictment lays out the criminal history of Gooden and his relationship with Dyrdahl.
In 2008, Gooden was convicted in Dakota County of second-degree assault, a felony offense. In 2016, Dyrdahl began a domestic relationship with Gooden and, as early as 2019, knew that Gooden had been convicted of a felony offense.
In 2020, Dyrdahl filed a letter in support of Gooden’s petition to restore his firearm rights in which she acknowledged his conviction and crime. 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 at Gooden’s direction and knowingly and intentionally transferred the firearms to Gooden.
Investigators know that Gooden sent text messages to Dyrdahl of firearms he wanted her to purchase. Dyrdahl placed the orders at FFLs and filled out ATF Forms 4473 falsely attesting that she was the actual buyer of the firearm, and falsely attesting that she was not planning to transfer the firearm to a felon.
During a text exchange between Dyrdahl and Gooden discussing background checks and other questions from firearm sellers, Dyrdahl told Gooden, “We just gotta make sure we’re smart about all this ya know?”
Luger calls the text exchanges "chilling" and he says makes it clear both knew they were violating federal gun laws.
Matthew Ruge and Paul Elmstrand of the Burnsville Police Department, and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth were killed in the shooting. Burnsville Police Sergeant Adam Medlicott was injured in that same shootout. The three killed were remembered in a large memorial service in Eden Prairie on February 28.