The widow of one of the two police officers killed on Sunday, alongside a paramedic in Burnsville, Minnesota, paid tribute to the father of her two children who probably did everything he could to save the “little lives” from the clutches of an armed man.
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“I think he just had to be the hero. He had to do what he thought was right to protect these little lives, even if it meant putting his own in danger and it breaks my heart because now he is gone. But I know he thought he was doing the right thing,” Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita, the wife of police officer Paul Elmstrand, told CBS news.
With her heart in pieces, the mother of a 2-year-old girl and a 5-month-old baby spoke to pay tribute to her husband, her lover since high school, who lost his life on Sunday very early after being called to a home where an armed man had barricaded himself with members of his family, including seven children aged 2 to 15.
During the intervention, the 27-year-old police officer, as well as his colleague Matthew Ruge of the same age and paramedic Adam Finseth, 40, were fatally shot, before the suspect, Shannon Gooden, 38, was found dead in the home, according to CBS news.
Another police officer was also reportedly injured, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
It was when she woke up around 7:30 a.m. that the young mother received a text message from a friend – which she believed to be a mistake – saying she was sorry for her.
“I looked out my bedroom window and I saw a police car there,” the upset woman reportedly told CBS News. That’s when I knew he was gone.”
She described the officer, who joined the Burnsville Police Department in 2017, as the “most generous, most loving and most patient” man, who would “give up everything to help someone in need, whether it’s family, friends or someone on the street.
“He was a very level-headed person. He loved his work. He saw horrible things but he never complained about it (…) I keep thinking about how much he loved me and how much he loved our children and what a privilege it is to having had this,” concluded the grieving woman.
