Girlfriend of man who killed 3 Burnsville first responders ready to plead guilty to buying him guns

The woman charged with providing guns for the man who fatally shot three Burnsville first responders and wounded another says she is ready to plead guilty to federal charges.

Ashley Anne Dyrdahl, 36, was indicted by a grand jury in March on 11 counts, including conspiracy, straw purchasing and making false statements, for procuring five firearms on behalf of 38-year-old Shannon Cortez Gooden, who was prohibited from having them based on a prior conviction.

The two AR-15-style firearms used to kill the three Burnsville first responders and wound another in February were bought by Dyrdahl, Gooden’s girlfriend, just weeks before he used them to unload more than 100 rounds during an hourslong standoff at the couple’s home, according to the charges.

Two rifles used in the Feb. 18 shooting were bought by Dyrdahl on Jan. 5 and Jan. 25, respectively, weeks before Gooden shot and killed officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, then took his own life. Gooden also wounded Burnsville police Sgt. Adam Medlicott during the shootout.

Dyrdahl was living at the home with Gooden on the day police were called in response to a domestic abuse call. Gooden barricaded himself inside with seven children present.

Dyrdahl had been scheduled to go on trial Dec. 2 in St. Paul before Judge Jerry Blackwell. However, a court filing made by the defense Wednesday now sets the stage for her to rescind her plea of not guilty and enter guilty pleas to one or more charges on Dec. 18. From there, a date for sentencing will follow.

In the meantime, Dyrdahl remains free on a personal recognizance bond while attorneys on both sides prepare to tell the court what they think her punishment should be. Dyrdahl’s attorney declined Thursday to comment on the case, as did the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

While the anticipated plea agreement will spell out a sentencing range based on federal guidelines, judges on the federal level have wide discretion and can depart from what guidelines suggest.

Straw purchasing, or knowingly buying firearms on behalf of a prohibited person, is outlawed under both state and federal law in Minnesota. The federal straw purchasing charges against Dyrdahl were just the second such case at that time filed in Minnesota since the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gave federal prosecutors the ability to charge it as a felony. U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said when the indictment was filed that prosecutors can seek up to 15 years in prison under that law.

According to the indictment:

In 2016, Dyrdahl began a relationship with Gooden, and knew that he had previously been convicted of second-degree assault, a felony, which precluded him from owning firearms. In 2019, she filed a letter in support of Gooden’s petition to restore his firearm rights in which she acknowledged his conviction and crime. That petition was later denied. Despite this, the charges said, Dyrdahl bought five firearms from two federally licensed dealers between September 2023 and January before “knowingly and intentionally” transferring them to Gooden.

The final purchase listed in the indictment happened Jan. 25 at the Burnsville Rifle and Pistol Range. Owner Roger Hird told the Star Tribune that Dyrdahl came in to pick up the lower portion for a PA-15 semiautomatic that she bought online from Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, S.C., and had it shipped to the range, which is a federal firearm license holder. Hird said his business completed the transfer to Dyrdahl “after she filled out the [federal background check] forms without any assistance. ... It raised no red flags.”

Among the guns Dyrdahl bought and transferred to Gooden at his direction were three semiautomatic AR-15-style firearm lower-receivers. One was a Franklin Armory FAI-15 .300-caliber semiautomatic firearm equipped with a binary trigger. A firearm with a binary trigger fires one shot when the trigger is pulled and another when the trigger is released, effectively doubling the rate of fire. Dyrdahl also purchased a .300-caliber barrel for the lower receiver.

Dyrdahl knew Gooden was loading the semiautomatic AR-15-style firearms with .300 Blackout ammunition, which is a heavier load ammunition that has an increased potential for being lethal, prosecutors said.

A law enforcement search of the bedroom Gooden and Dyrdahl shared found a “stockpile of fully loaded magazines as well as boxes with hundreds of additional rounds of ammunition and additional firearms,” the indictment read.

A conviction in 2008 for second-degree assault in Dakota County prohibited Gooden from possessing firearms or ammunition. In August 2020, he petitioned the court unsuccessfully to regain his right to own a gun. He said that he wanted to protect himself and his family, according to court records.

Staff writer Stephen Montemayor contributed to this story.