The Hastings Public House will hold a benefit Sunday, March 10 from 2-5 p.m.
Proceeds of the event will go to families of three members of law enforcement who lost their lives in Burnsville on Sunday, Feb. 18.
Burnsville firefighter and SWAT paramedic Adam Finseth, who previously worked for 3-1/2 years at the Hastings Fire Department, was killed along with Bloomington Police Department officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed that the man who they were trying to apprehend was Shannon Gooden, 38. Gooden died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and his death was ruled a suicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Gooden reportedly barricaded himself in the Burnsville home early in the morning with his girlfriend and seven children ranging in age from 2 to 15. Gooden was reportedly heavily armed and attacked law enforcement with gunfire from several parts of the house. He was barred from possessing firearms and ammunition after a 2008 conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon.
The Hastings City Council opened its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 20 with a moment of silence and a prayer, led by Police Chaplain Pastor Jim Bzoskie of Cornerstone Bible Church in Hastings, in which he asked that the families of the victims and their law enforcement partners be kept safe.
“We just pray that you protect them each and every day,” he said.
At the Hastings Public House event, the suggested donation is $20 and will include beer, wine soda and snacks.
Donations and thank you cards for First Responders are also being collected at The Busted Nut in downtown Hastings and at the Hastings Public House.
