Matthew Henke Ruge was 27, a White male Burnsville police officer, when a pre-dawn call for help pulled him and other first responders to a home in the 12600 block of 33rd Avenue South in Burnsville, Minnesota, on February 18, 2024. What began as a domestic-related response quickly hardened into a barricade and hostage crisis: a man was inside with several family members, including seven children, and officers tried to contain the scene while negotiating for a peaceful surrender. 
As the standoff stretched on, the suspect—identified by authorities and news outlets as Shannon Gooden—remained inside the residence while police worked to de-escalate and get the children out safely. Investigators later said the suspect unleashed a torrent of gunfire, firing more than 100 rounds at responding officers. In the exchange, Ruge and fellow Burnsville officer Paul Elmstrand were shot and killed, and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth was fatally shot while providing aid; another officer was wounded and hospitalized. 
Ruge was rushed to Hennepin Healthcare's emergency room in Minneapolis, but he did not survive. The medical examiner's release listed the manner of death as homicide and the cause as a gunshot wound to the chest, with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension named as the investigating agency. 
There were no arrests tied to the killings because the suspected shooter did not live to be taken into custody. Authorities reported that after the long siege, the suspect was found dead inside the home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the children were able to escape. In the months that followed, investigators continued to release details about the shooting, and the Dakota County attorney later announced that officers who used deadly force during the incident were legally justified—an official finding that closed off the possibility of charging any surviving suspect in the deaths. 
