The owner of a Burnsville gun retailer confirmed to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that a gun part found at Shannon Gooden’s home was straw purchased and traced to his store.

Investigators say Gooden, 38, shot and killed two Burnsville police officers and one firefighter-paramedic before killing himself on Feb. 18.

John McConkey, the owner of the Modern Sportsman gun shop in Burnsville, said in an email, “One of the firearms found at the scene in the February 18^th incident was traced to our Burnsville location.”

McConkey added, “We are working with the [Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] to assist them with their investigation.”

Investigators have not said whether the lower receiver traced to the Modern Sportsman was used in the Feb. 18 shooting, and the BCA has said it chooses not to comment on open investigations to retain integrity of the case.

McConkey clarified that the “firearm” was an AR-15 lower receiver — a federally regulated portion of the rifle that contains the serial number — that was purchased online and shipped to his store for transfer.

The person who picked up the part cleared a background check and picked the part up on Jan. 15, McConkey said.

The gun store owner said the person who purchased the lower receiver for Gooden is now under investigation on suspicion of felony straw purchase — a crime in which someone buys a gun for someone who is prohibited from having one.

As previously reported, Gooden was not allowed to possess firearms or ammunition because of a felony assault conviction back in 2008. He petitioned to have his access to guns restored in 2020 but was denied by a judge.

“The Modern Sportsman had no way of knowing the lower receiver would end up in a convicted felons / prohibited person’s possession,” McConkey wrote. “The prohibited person was not there during the transfer process nor was his name on any of the enclosed documents. “

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled last year that incomplete or disassembled guns still qualify as firearms.