Vigil Planned in Rochester For Fallen Burnsville Paramedic

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A public vigil is being planned next week in honor of Rochester native of Adam Finseth.

The Rochester Fire Department will be hosting the event at Soldiers Field Memorial Park on Tuesday evening beginning at 6:30 PM.

Finseth was a paramedic for the Burnsville Fire Department and lost his life last weekend while coming to the aid of several wounded Burnsville police officers after they were shot while responding to a domestic incident Sunday morning. Two of the Burnsville officers, Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, also died.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the man responsible for their deaths, 38-year-old Shannon Gooden, opened fire without warning after the officers had spent several hours talking with him in an effort to convince him to surrender peacefully. After firing more than 100 rounds at law enforcement officers and other first responders at the scene, Gooden took his own life.

His obituary says Finseth was 40 years old and is survived by his wife and two young children. He was born in Faribault but spent much of his childhood in Rochester where he graduated from John Marshall High School in 2001. He was also an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq before beginning his career as a paramedic.

The Rochester Fire Department says the vigil will include a tribute from the fire department Honor Guard and will also feature a number of speakers, including local officials, firefighters, and friends of the Finseth family.

A public memorial service for all three of the slain first responders will take place on Wednesday at a church in Eden Prairie.

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