Gun buyer for man who killed Burnsville first responders sentenced to 45 months in federal prison
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A judge on Wednesday sentenced the woman who bought the guns that her romantic partner used to kill three first responders in Burnsville to nearly four years in prison.
Shannon Gooden used two AR-15-style rifles that Ashley Dyrdahl purchased to kill officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth on Feb. 18, 2024. Police responded to the home that Gooden and Dyrdahl shared on a report that Gooden was sexually assaulting someone.
Gooden was ineligible to own firearms because of a 2008 felony assault conviction. Dyrdahl, 36, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of straw purchasing.
“This tragedy has changed the molecular structure of my soul,” Burnsville Police Sgt. Adam Medlicott said during a two-and-a-half hour hearing in a St. Paul federal courtroom Wednesday. Medlicott suffered two gunshot wounds in the attack and was released from the hospital the next day.
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“My children get to have their father, my wife gets to have her husband. I’m the lucky one,” Medlicott said, addressing Judge Jerry Blackwell by courtroom custom but directing his comments to Dyrdahl.
“You took that away from these families. You may not have pulled the trigger, but you literally put the guns in his hands.”
Medlicott added that the rifles Dyrdahl purchased were “weapons to defeat our armor, weapons for war, not target practice.”
“This is a situation a mother should never have to be in,” said Christi Henke Ruge, the mother of Matthew Ruge, who was 27 when he was killed. Ruge said that the acts of courage by her son and the other responders saved the lives of the children in Dyrdahl’s home.
“All of her children are alive but one of mine is dead,” Ruge said.
Ruge added that Matthew’s father, Sean Ruge, died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 56 as a result of the emotional toll that the attack took on their family.
Tara Finseth, whose husband Adam, 40, was also killed in the attack, said in a victim impact statement read by a friend that “every day since then has been a living nightmare.”
She said her husband survived deployments to Iraq and a cancer scare related to his military service but was killed in his own community because of the “bad decisions of two monsters.”
Finseth said not only did Dyrdahl illegally purchase the guns for Gooden, she failed to warn police about the large stockpile of ammunition that Gooden kept.
“If she had truly taken responsibility for her actions, Adam, Matt and Paul would still be here today,” Finseth said.
Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita, who lost her husband Paul, 27, in the shooting, said she’s struggled with her mental health since the attack.
“My life has become a nightmare. My daughter asks for her father every day,” Elmstrand-Castruita said. “This is the legacy that Ashley has created for my family. This is not just a mistake but a choice. My children not only lost one parent, but almost two.”
Dyrdahl, reading from a prepared statement said “Not a day goes by that I don’t carry the weight of this. I pray every day for the families of Matt, Adam and Paul. I never could have imagined Shannon would have used the weapons I purchased to cause so much harm.”
Dyrdahl also pledged to produce public service announcements and speak publicly about the dangers of the straw purchasing of firearms.
The 45-month sentence that Blackwell imposed is slightly longer than the 41 months that the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office requested.
The judge acknowledged the domestic abuse that Dyrdahl faced at Gooden’s hands but said that Gooden did not directly force Dyrdahl to purchase weapons for him, and the “trauma narrative doesn’t square with repeated transactions over months.”
“Mr. Gooden’s conduct cannot excuse Ms. Dyrdahl’s choices. Ms. Dyrdahl still had agency, she could have said no,” Blackwell added.
Dyrdahl’s attorney Manny Atwal asked that her client be allowed to report to prison on Oct. 7. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristian Weir didn’t object, but Blackwell said that giving Dyrdahl several more weeks of freedom could send the wrong message about the seriousness of straw purchasing.
Blackwell ordered Dyrdahl remanded into custody immediately, and U.S. marshals led her out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
“Accountability should begin now,” Blackwell said. “Not weeks from now.”
Though there was no mention of domestic violence in the plea agreement or at Dyrdahl’s January hearing, Minnesota court records show that in 2017, Dyrdahl had accused Gooden of abuse and asked a judge for a protection order. At least three women had filed for protection orders against Gooden.
If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation with a partner, there is a 24-hour statewide domestic and sexual violence hotline. You can call Minnesota Day One at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.
