Two charged in Edina hospital shooting

The victim received medical attention at the hospital where he had planned to work only moments earlier and survived the injury.

Surveillance images of Matthew Rush in a parking ramp at Fairview Southdale Hospital. (Edina/Twitter)

Two individuals have been arrested and charged for a shooting that occurred at the Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Minnesota.

Matthew Rush, a 33-year-old Minnetonka man, and Lucinda Peterson, a 50-year-old Minneapolis woman, have both been charged in relation to the shooting, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced. During the event, a doctor was hit in the head on his way to work at the Edina Southdale Hospital. The two were arrested on Sept. 27 and are currently being held in Hennepin County jail.

According to what the victim told police, Rush had approached the victim’s vehicle in the parking lot of the hospital, knocked on his window, and asked to use his phone. After the victim obliged, Rush handed the phone back and then pointed a gun at the victim while threatening to kill him.

The victim attempted to take hold of the firearm but was shot in the head, after which Rush fled the scene. The victim received medical attention at the hospital where he had planned to work only moments earlier and survived the injury.

Security footage from a nearby business shows a two-door silver vehicle with a large dent in the side fleeing the scene of the shooting. Ten days after the incident, the Savage Police Department told investigators that a vehicle matching that same description was used in a credit-card robbery on Sep. 15. That vehicle was owned by Lucinda Peterson.

Police had previously encountered the pair when Peterson’s vehicle, driven by Rush with Peterson inside, was used on Aug. 20 to flee law enforcement.

A criminal complaint states that apparent methamphetamine was found along with clothes matching what Rush wore during the shooting in the hotel room where Peterson was captured. 

“In a notebook inside the hotel room, police found a handwritten list which included
‘burner phones’ and ‘gun,'” states the complaint filed against Peterson. 

The victim of the shooting was able to identify Rush as the man who shot him, and cell data placed Peterson and Rush at the scene.

Rush faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, attempted first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree assault, while Peterson was charged with two counts of aiding an offender and one count of aiding and abetting attempted aggravated robbery. Both made their first court appearances Wednesday. 

 

Judah Torgerud

Judah Torgerud is a freelance journalist working with Alpha News to keep the people informed and bring the truth to light. Contact him at whqnu@nycunarjfza.pbz.