Matthew Ruge, the Burnsville police officer killed Sunday during a domestic standoff, grew up in the unincorporated township of Reads Landing, a riverfront community north of Wabasha. It is one of those places where everyone knows everyone else.

"Every teacher liked him," said Jon Auge, who taught Ruge in seventh and eighth grade. He recalled a sweet, quiet child who earned good grades, played basketball and never needed to be corrected in class.

Ruge, 27, his fellow officer Paul Elmstrand and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth were fatally shot while responding to a domestic violence incident in a Burnsville home. Ruge graduated from Wabasha-Kellogg High School in 2015. Like Elmstrand, who was also 27, friends recalled that Ruge told them early on he wanted to be a police officer.

"You just knew that whatever he did in life he was gonna be good at," said Auge, noting that Ruge went out of his way to greet him long after Ruge was no longer his student.

Wabasha-Kellogg High School English teacher Cris Medina said Ruge was a "very positive" student who "was a great role model for his peers and was always respectful."

As a boy, Matthew and his sister, Hannah, would stop by neighbor Robin Gwaltney's house to swim in the pool; her father, Wayne, became a sort of neighborhood grandfather to the kids, she said.

"My parents would have been in their late 60s and just got the biggest kick out of those kids," said Gwaltney. "Our house had an inground pool, but my mom and dad, and especially my dad, would take them over and sit with them for hours on end while their mom worked. They were like pseudo grandchildren to my parents," she said.

Gwaltney's mother died in late 2022. When her father fell ill last spring, Matthew drove down to Reads Landing to visit with him for three hours. "He had the nicest visit with my dad, and my dad died two days later," said Gwaltney.

"I was so impressed with Matt and how respectful and caring he was," she said. "Most kids go through a bratty stage; he did not. He was always the kid who, if he saw my dad out in the yard, he would offer to go out and help. I wasn't at all surprised that this kid grew up and decided to become a police officer."

Longtime friend Ty Gaedtke said Ruge was committed to a career in law enforcement.

"As far back as I can remember, Matt had wanted to be a police officer," Gaedtke wrote on Facebook. "He had always felt like it was a job where he could really make a difference in this world."

"Even when we had questioned him on the danger and social scrutiny of the job, he doubled down. That is a testament to the man that Matt was. Selfless and courageous. Kind and loyal," Gaedtke wrote.

Gaedtke said he was in disbelief when he learned of Ruge's death. Ruge had planned to come visit him next weekend, Gaedtke said.

Ruge joined the Burnsville Police Department in April of 2020. He was on the crisis negotiations team and was a physical evidence officer.

In 2018, he earned his bachelor's degree in law enforcement at Minnesota State University, Mankato, home of the Mavericks. On Monday, the university's president, Edward S. Inch, issued a statement saying the school community was grieving Ruge's death along with the shooting in the same incident of Burnsville Police Sgt. Adam Medlicott, who graduated from the university in 2007. Medlicott was treated at Hennepin County Medical Center for his injuries and released.

"My deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences go to the families and friends of those injured and killed and to all those in our community who are affected and feel a deep sense of loss," Inch wrote. "In every corner of the world, Mavericks are doing incredible and sometimes dangerous work. On days like these, we must remember that even in dark times, our community is strong and resilient. As an academic community, we must continue to use dialogue, engagement, and advocacy to find opportunities to reduce violence."

The Wabasha-Kellogg superintendent held a moment of silence at the high school Tuesday morning to honor Ruge. And later in the day, Auge played a TV news clip for his students.

"Those of us adults that know Matt, it shook us a lot," Auge said.

A candlelight vigil will be held for Ruge at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday under the bridge at Heritage Park in Wabasha.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.