A shaken Minnesota community waits for answers on the killings in Burnsville
MINNEAPOLIS — It started out as a 911 call about a domestic incident. It ended with two police officers, a firefighter and the suspect dead, a third officer wounded, and a mostly affluent suburb of Minneapolis badly shaken and waiting for answers.
Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were still conducting their preliminary investigation and did not plan to release any updates Monday, spokesperson Bonney Bowman said. They planned to share more information once that was complete, she added.
That meant that several key questions remained unanswered a day later. Authorities have not released the name of the suspect or said what prompted the 911 call early Sunday from a home in a wooded, well-to-do neighborhood of single-family homes on curvy streets in Burnsville, a city of around 64,000 located about 15 miles south of downtown Minneapolis.
An order by Gov. Tim Walz took effect at sunrise Monday for flags to fly at halfstaff at all state-owned buildings, with individuals, businesses and other organizations encouraged to join in to honor the three who gave their lives in service to their community. Speaking at a news conference Sunday, Mr. Walz urged Minnesotans who drive by these flags “to maybe pause and think about these first responders, these public safety officials. They’re moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They’re the world to a lot of people.”
A web page started by the city contained no fresh updates on the investigation Monday, and city spokespeople said they could not provide additional information.
But members of the Minnesota Senate stood with bowed heads for a moment of silence Monday for the fallen officers and firefighter.
“There is no truer testament to the strength, dignity and compassion of our community than the selfless bravery of our law enforcement and first responders,” said Sen. Jim Carlson, who represents the Burnsville neighborhood where the three were killed.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said Sunday that Burnsville police were called to the home around 1:50 a.m. Sunday about a “domestic situation where a man was reported to be armed and barricaded with family members in the home.” That included seven children ages 2 to 15. Mr. Evans declined to say which resident called. Arriving officers “spent quite a bit of time” negotiating with the suspect, he said.
At some point — he declined to specify when — the suspect opened fire, killing Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic who was assigned to the city’s SWAT team. Another officer, Sgt. Adam Medlicott, survived with injuries that were not life-threatening. He was released from a hospital and was recovering at home Monday, the city said.
Officer Elmstrand’s wife, Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita, told WCCO-TV: “He had to do what he thought was right to protect those little lives even if it meant putting his at risk and it breaks my heart because now he’s gone. But I know that he thought what he did was right.”
Officer Elmstrand joined the police department in 2017, and was a member of its mobile command staff. Officer Ruge, hired in 2020, was on the department’s crisis negotiations team and was a physical evidence officer. Mr. Finseth, who had been with the fire department since 2019, was shot while aiding the first officer who was injured, Mr. Evans said. Sgt. Medlicott, who joined the police department in 2014, supervises community service officers and is a drug recognition expert.
“Several officers” returned fire during the exchange, Mr. Evans said. The man fired from multiple places on both floors of the home. At least one officer was shot inside. An armored SWAT team vehicle sustained bullet damage to its windshield.
Mr. Evans said the suspect was armed with “several guns and large amounts of ammunition,” though he declined to provide details. He said there “have not been many calls for service at all” to the home or involving the suspect previously.
The suspect was “reported to be deceased in the home” around 8 a.m., Mr. Evans said, and the children and other family members were later able to escape. The superintendent declined to say how long officers negotiated with the suspect.