Officials have identified the two Minnesota police officers and a paramedic who were fatally shot on Sunday during a domestic incident.
The Star Tribune reported that Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, were killed in a shootout that occurred hours after police responded to calls about an armed man who barricaded himself inside a home with a woman and seven children between the ages of 2 and 15. Finseth was shot as he tended to one of the shooting victims, and the gunman, who has not been publicly named, ultimately took his own life.
Sergeant Adam Medlicott was hospitalized for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said at least one officer was in the home when shots rang out on the main and upper floors of the home. He also claimed the gunman had opened fire as negotiations took place.
READ: 2 Police Officers, 1 Medic Fatally Shot in Minnesota Domestic Incident
“We have a caller calling from inside saying the dad is down,” a dispatcher told officers about an hour and a half after the initial gunfire, per the Star Tribune. “He is not breathing. He is in the bedroom…He just shot himself in the head.”
According to Evans, there had not been a significant history of police calls to the home prior to Sunday’s incident. He also alleged that several guns and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered in the home, the Twin Cities Pioneer-Press reported.
The other people barricaded in the home with the gunman were reported safe.
Elmstrand and Ruge joined the Burnsville Police Department in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Finseth joined the Burnsville Fire Department in 2019, according to Bring Me the News.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office will reveal the suspect’s identity and cause of death.
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[Feature Photo: Adam Elmstrand, Matthew Ruge, Adam Finseth/Burnsville Police Department]
