A Legacy Living on for Future Peacekeepers 

After alum and police officer Matthew Ruge was killed in a domestic violence standoff, his family honors his memory with a law enforcement scholarship 

By Robb Murray ’96 

When Christin Henke’s doorbell chimed at 6 a.m. that day, her heart began to race. 

As the mother of a police officer, she knew it was always a possibility she’d one day open her front door to receive the worst news of her life. 

And on Feb. 18, 2024, that’s exactly what happened. 

Her son, Matthew Ruge, had been involved in a shooting and was badly hurt, the officer said. 

Henke hurried up the stairs and quickly changed out of her pajamas, ready to rush to her son’s side. But by the time she came down the stairs, the officer’s mood had darkened. 

“I looked at the officer’s face and I could just tell,” she said. “In the three minutes it took me to change, Matthew was gone.”  

Ruge was killed in a horrific domestic abuse case that turned tragic. He negotiated with suspect Shannon Gooden—who was holding seven children captive. Without warning, Gooden opened fire, and Ruge was hit inside the house but was able to help a fellow officer exit. Outside the home, Gooden fired again, striking Ruge as he sought cover. Ruge, a fellow officer and a paramedic were killed. After the gunfight, Gooden took his own life. The children were uninjured.  

Ruge graduated from Minnesota State Mankato’s law enforcement program in 2018. Henke said her son loved being a Maverick, and that his time in Mankato—both educationally and socially—helped mold him into the kind of officer and man he became. Because of that, the family has established a scholarship in his name,  

Ruge’s friendly and gentle personality made him an ideal negotiator when hostage situations arose. Even though he’d already worked a long day, he didn’t hesitate to respond to a dangerous call. 

Law enforcement had arrived at Gooden’s home around 1:50 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2024. Gooden  had barricaded himself inside with family members. It was the kind of situation in which Ruge excelled.  

“He negotiated with the killer for three and a half hours,” Henke said. “That enabled the SWAT team to show up and all the resources to come.” 

“Are you good?” 

Nathan Elzen was Ruge’s best friend. They met during their senior years in high school during a campus tour of MSU. They quickly became close, and when they entered the world of law enforcement — having been sworn in as peace officers just a few days apart — they leaned on each other on days when the job became stressful. 

“Everyone has that special person they can go and talk to no matter what, and that's what we were for each other. He was the one that I could go to, and I'm the one that he would always go to,” Elzen said. “If there was a critical call that we were on and one of us found out that we were on it, we would text each other just, ‘Hey, are you OK?’ And we’d send back a thumbs up.” 

On the day of the shooting Elzen, a Minnesota State Trooper, was off duty. But his wife woke him up at 8 a.m. to tell him about an incident in Burnsville. She knew he’d be worried about Ruge. 

He fired off the first text: “Are you good?”  

No response. 

Eight minutes later, he fired off a second: “Hey, give me a call. I need to know that you're OK.” 

Again, no response. 

He made a few calls to fellow law enforcement officers and finally found one who knew. 

“He asked if I had somebody home with me, and I told him ‘Yes,  just tell me the news.’ I knew it was gonna be bad, but I thought he was just wounded,” Elzen recalled. “That's when he told me to sit down, and that Matt was fatally wounded responding to a domestic call.” 

Giving back 

In the days and weeks following Ruge’s death, a number of fundraisers were held. And it didn’t take long for Henke to decide what to do with a portion of the money that came in. 

“It just came natural that I wanted it to be for the equipment that they have to purchase for skills,” she said, referring to the extra training law enforcement majors must undergo before applying for a peace officer license. This is where they learn firearms and self-defense skills and study things like criminal procedure and use of force, and they must provide their own equipment for the training. “I actually went with Matt when he purchased that equipment. It was very expensive.” 

Ifran Garad, an immigrant from Somalia who was recently hired to serve in Mankato’s Department of Public Safety, was awarded this scholarship during the Spring 2025 semester. She, too, shuddered at the high cost of equipment needed for skills training. Prior to being awarded this scholarship, she wasn’t sure how she was going to afford the equipment. 

“I really needed that scholarship for my skills training,” she said. “And I’m very grateful to be able to finish my degree so I can be a great officer like Matthew and continue the work he was doing.”