Suspect who fatally shot 2 officers, 1 first responder was not permitted to own firearm

The man who fatally shot two Minnesota police officers and a first responder over the weekend was prohibited from owning a firearm and made an unsuccessful bid to overturn the lifelong state ban four years ago, court records show.

A medical examiner identified the slain shooter as Shannon Gooden, 38, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Monday.

He had several guns and large amounts of ammunition when he opened fire on law enforcement officers Sunday while barricaded inside a home with seven children in Burnsville, Minnesota, authorities said.

The children were between the ages of 2 and 15, according to Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Evans said officers were attempting to negotiate with the suspect when he began shooting. He killed police officers Paul Elmstrand, 27, and Matthew Ruge, 27, as well as Adam Finseth, 40, a firefighter and paramedic, city officials said.

They died of their gunshot injuries within 15 minutes of each other, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

Another officer, Adam Medlicott, was shot at the scene and is expected to survive.

Gooden, of Burnsville, also died during the incident, the Department of Public Safety bureau spokesperson said. The medical examiner has not released his cause of death.

Gooden had been employed as a journeyman painter for over a decade at LaMettry’s Collision in Burnsville, the business said in a statement to NBC News. It extended its condolences to the first responders and their loved ones.

"We are shocked and saddened by the news of this horror and tragedy," the statement said, adding that Elmstrand, Ruge and