Prosecutors said that a Minneapolis woman has been accused with buying firearms that her significant other allegedly used to murder three emergency personnel during an armed confrontation last month.
According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, Ashley Anne Dyrdahl, 35 year old woman, has been accused of using her name to buy at least five weapons for her longtime lover, Shannon Gooden, who is prohibited from possessing firearms by law as a felon.
Ashley Anne, woman of alias
According to authorities, on February 18, during an incident at the couple’s Burnsville, Minnesota home, Gooden locked himself inside the home with his family, which included seven children, and started shooting at the first responders who came to the scene. A firefighter and two police officers perished, and another
The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 15, were able to safely exit the house, and Gooden also perished in the event, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Gooden possessed “several guns and a large amount of ammunition,” according to the agency.
“The public and law enforcement has been raising the same question ever since that tragic day: how did an armed felon get these firearms?” At a press conference on Thursday, US Attorney Andrew Luger stated.
Pursuant to an accusation filed in US District Court of Minnesota, Gooden was barred from owning weapons following his conviction for second-degree assault in Dakota County in 2008, and Dyrdahl was aware of his felony status.
“Dyrdahl, at Gooden’s direction, bought five weapons from two different federal firearms licensees (FFLs) and knowingly and intentionally sent the firearms to Gooden between September of 2023 and January of 2024, despite knowing of Gooden’s felony status,” the prosecutor’s office stated in a release.
Prosecutors have filed charges against Dyrdahl for one conspiracy offence, five straw purchases, and five false statements made when acquiring a handgun.
On Thursday, Dyrdahl was supposed to appear in court. It is unknown if she has legal representation.
The men who were slain in the domestic incident reaction were named as 40-year-old firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth and cops Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, all 27 years old.
Tanya Schwartz, the chief of Burnsville Police Department, lamented the men last month, calling them “heroes” who “made the greatest possible sacrifice for this community.”
