Paul Elmstrand and Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita met each other in kindergarten. By the time they were in third grade at Isanti Elementary, the two were in the same class for the first time, and in fourth grade they competed against each other for class president.

Cindy won.

“I always held that against him,” she said during an interview with Southwest News Media on Feb. 26. But Elmstrand would have the last laugh winning class president when they were in high school.

The relationship grew stronger as the years went on, and the high school sweethearts married in 2018 before settling down in Chaska.

“When I think about my husband and I think about our life together, it felt like a storybook, it felt perfect,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

On Sunday, Feb.18, Elmstrand along with fellow Burnsville Police Officer Matthew Ruge and Firefighter/Paramedic Adam Finseth were shot and killed after responding to a domestic call, according to city officials. The gunman was later identified as Shannon Gooden, who took his own life.

To Elmstrand-Castruita, her husband meant everything.

He just lived his life so well, that everyone that met him was touched by him, she said.

Bus rides

In ninth grade Elmstrand and Elmstrand-Castruita had to take a bus to school at Cambridge-Isanti High School and she had a choice to make: Who was she going to sit next to on the bus?

“He just seemed like a safe person to me so I just sat by him, and I sat by him every single day,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

She said after school she would be visibly tired, and Elmstrand would ask if she was OK. His caring of others, especially for her, was something shed witness for years to come.

“Now I see how much he cared about me even then,” she said.

During freshman year, the two eventually started dating. During the summer, he invited her to the 4-H show, where he was showing cows. “He loved those cows so much, so much so that I thought it was weird,” she added.

The two broke up for a brief period during high school, but remained friends.

At the end of their sophomore year she was looking for a summer job, and knew the Elmstrand family hired summer help at their strawberry farm. She reached out to her future husband inviting him to coffee, and also to apologize for how she broke up with him.

“We sat down for a cup of coffee and we didn’t talk about the farm at all,” Elmstrand-Castruita said. The two spoke for what she said seemed like hours and got to know more about him and his love for his family.

“I just realized his values were so pure and I was so drawn to that,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

While they were picking strawberries in the heat of the summer, she said over those three weeks we just completely fell in love with each other.

“I was his first and only girlfriend ever,” she said.

During freshman year of college, Elmstrand-Castruita remembers a walk the two took during a rough time in the relationship. In her mind, it was the walk to give each other closure, the walk couples take to end their relationship. But by the end that wasn’t the case.

“By the end of the walk, we were back together; it was just inevitable,” she said.

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A couple of years later, with a semester left in school for Elmstrand and a year left for Elmstrand-Castruita, he asked about rings, narrowing down options to the one he would buy for her.

While a proposal seemed imminent, time went on, and soon Elmstrand-Castruita was about to leave for a study abroad trip to Spain as part of her college program.

During the final day before embarking halfway across the world, the two went for a walk in their favorite park at Lake George in Anoka. Suddenly, he asked Elmstrand-Castruita to do a twirl. She thought it was odd, but did it anyway, and by the time she turned around he was on one knee proposing to her. The next day she was on a plane for her study abroad program.

While away, Elmstrand, who wasn’t much of a planner, helped get wedding details arranged. A few months after returning home from Spain, the couple got married with the support of many people in the community pitching in.

Marriage

Paul Elmstrand and Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita pose for a photo with their dog and first child, Maria. (Courtsy of Cindy Elmstrand-Castruita)

After graduating from college, the couple moved to an apartment in Plymouth.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and the couple got a dog. Soon after, they got pregnant, and the couple decided it was time to move in to a bigger place.

Eventually they found themselves purchasing a townhouse in Chaska. “Weve absolutely loved living here,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

Elmstrand, who worked as a Burnsville police officer since 2019, was able to live a little ways from where he protected and served, something Elmstrand-Castruita thought was important after some reflection.

“It helped my husband to be home when he was at home,” she said.

Even on the worst days of work, he left work behind by the time he got to his front door.

“He never came home angry, never took things out on me or the kids, he was just his happy, funny self every time he was home,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

For Elmstrand, the father of two-year-old Maria and six-month old Mateo, his family was above all. Family was his number one value, she added.

Working five days on and four off, he would completely change his schedule around to be with his family.

“He was just the most amazing father,” Elmstrand-Castruita said.

At the core of his life, his humor Elmstrand-Castruita described, his love for family, and people around him, was his conviction in his faith.

Faith

Two people the couple got to know well at Woodridge Church in Medina was Austin Holmes, a pastor at the church, and his wife Lea.

The four became friends after spending time in different groups together and raising kids similar in age.

Elmstrand’s faith is something Holmes will always remember him for.

“He really believed that the way of Jesus was the way to treat people, that’s why he was such a good police officer,” Holmes said.

During a vigil in Burnsville last week, Holmes heard stories of what Elmstrand was like when he was on duty, a side of Elmstrand that Holmes didn’t get to see. But the stories he heard being told by Elmstrand’s coworkers reflected the same person he knew.

“He was the same there as I experienced with him when I was camping with him, the same guy,” Holmes said, adding their relationship started to blossom in a new way when they started having kids, something he treasures.

He was just an amazing dad, and that was a huge conviction for the both of us. We wanted to be the best fathers we could be, Holmes said.

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In reflecting on their time together, Holmes said one thing that will always stick out to him was his willingness to help others.

When Holmes and his family bought a home, Elmstrand knew lawn care was something Holmes hated. “He just came and would mow my lawn for me, and he just did that,” he said.

“It was his way of loving us doing that act of love,” Holmes said.

During Elmstrand’s funeral Saturday at Woodridge Church in Medina, he got to share words about his dear friend. During the days following his death, before he knew he would be sharing, Holmes thought of Romans 12:21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

“The world is going to miss him, like the world needs more people like him,” Holmes said.

Maybe it’s best to start here, late in the fourth quarter of Week 15 with the Seattle Seahawks trailing 17-13 and pinned inside their 10-yard line. The two-minute warning had just passed, right after the Philadelphia Eagles downed a punt at the Seahawks 8.

After kicking a field goal two possessions earlier, the Seahawks had life but faced a pressure-packed challenge against a quality opponent in the late stages of a “gotta have it” game. On the sideline at Lumen Field, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron grabbed quarterback Drew Lock — an emergency starter that night due to Geno Smith’s groin injury — and went to work.

It was showtime in Seattle for a 6-7, playoff-contending team in need of a big moment on the “Monday Night Football” stage.

The ensuing drive began with an incompletion — a Lock bullet over the middle that ricocheted off tight end Noah Fant’s hands and almost was intercepted. Over the next nine snaps, there were a few other near-disasters too. But the series also included five Lock completions, including a third-and-10 shot play up the right sideline to DK Metcalf for 34 yards.

Then, in the moment of truth, facing another third-and-long from the Eagles 29, Lock identified rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba in single coverage, had the ideal play call from Waldron and dropped a game-winning bomb into the end zone with 28 seconds remaining.

Seahawks 20, Eagles 17.

That was a relatively small moment folded into a disappointing season for the Seahawks. But for all involved, it was a game-on-the-line triumph and represented the kind of resilient, poised and fearless football Waldron wants his unit to play.

Six days later, with Smith back at quarterback, Waldron put his fingerprints on another game-winning touchdown drive that ended in the final minute, this time a grinding, 14-play, 75-yard march that finished with Smith’s 5-yard pass to Colby Parkinson in a 20-17 road win over the Tennessee Titans.

That marked the second time in NFL history — and the first since 1999 — a team had two quarterbacks throw game-winning touchdown passes in the final minute of regulation in consecutive weeks. And it provided added evidence of Waldron’s ability to adapt and set up his players for success in the critical stages of games.

The Chicago Bears hope to lean into those skills and many more with Waldron as their new offensive coordinator. That union became official Tuesday. Waldron, 44, will begin the next leg of his football journey at a potentially landmark time in Bears history.

He will be the offensive visionary tasked with fueling the team’s championship pursuit while bringing out the best in whichever quarterback(s) the Bears choose to lead them into 2024 and beyond.

Waldron also will walk into an offensive coordinator’s office at Halas Hall where — with the exception of Adam Gase — the inhabitants almost always leave through a trap door rather than on an up escalator.

The pursuit of consistency

Within league circles, Waldron is regarded as an up-and-coming offensive architect, an intelligent and creative coach with strong teaching skills. His work with Smith in Seattle in 2022 is particularly notable as the once-forgotten quarterback enjoyed a career year (4,282 passing yards, 30 TDs) on the way to earning Pro Bowl honors and the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award.

Waldron has worked under some of the sport’s coaching greats — Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots (2008-09), Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams (2017-20) and Pete Carroll for the last three seasons in Seattle.

He was the Rams passing game coordinator for three seasons and Jared Goff’s quarterbacks coach in 2019. He spent one season with Russell Wilson in Seattle before preparing Smith to be a productive starter for a playoff team in 2022.

When it comes time for the Bears to formally introduce Waldron, he likely will detail three key tenets within his offensive philosophy. Ball security is a must. Fundamentals require a daily investment to stay sharp. Buy-in from the entire group will be the blowtorch that ignites everything.

Waldron likely will talk often about being committed to the pursuit of consistency. He strives for balance in his offense, wanting to establish a strong running game while embracing an attacking mentality when explosive-play opportunities present themselves.

And as was the case in those two late comeback victories last month, Waldron surely wants the identity of his offense to include composure, determination and high-level mental toughness.

As a play caller, he will have to connect on a heightened level with his quarterback, striving to consistently bring out the best in whomever that turns out to be.

The presumption is, at the very least, he will be afforded input as his new bosses at Halas Hall work to solve that riddle in the coming weeks and months. That work will include both pre-draft homework and in-house discussions on the developmental progress of Justin Fields.

Fit process

Like with any coaching hire, it’s easy to gravitate first to feelings of hope, to the optimistic visions of the significant improvements that can catalyze a meaningful breakthrough. Waldron’s experience calling plays was a definite plus for the Bears. For general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus, that removes a chunk of the guesswork that comes with trying to forecast how he might handle those duties in Chicago and what kind of productivity they can expect.

Still, Eberflus and Poles are less than two years removed from hiring their last offensive coordinator — the January 2022 union with Luke Getsy that triggered significant excitement at Halas Hall.

Like Waldron, Getsy was hailed as a rising, young offensive coach with high intelligence, proven teaching skills and impressive creativity. He had been with the Green Bay Packers for six of the previous seven seasons, including three working under Matt LaFleur in a Kyle Shanahan/McVay-style offense. Getsy was endorsed by those who knew him best — players and coaches — as a strong communicator, steadying leader and sincere, relatable team builder.

He had been Aaron Rodgers’ quarterbacks coach for MVP seasons in 2020 and 2021 and, while serving as Mike McCarthy’s receivers coach in 2016 and 2017, had been credited by Davante Adams as influential in his breakthrough.

“He’s been on my radar for a while,” Eberflus said after hiring Getsy, later emphasizing his attraction to the timing-based, quick-decision passing attack Getsy was likely to bring.

For the next two seasons, Getsy was regarded as an imaginative football mind with strong collaborative skills and a comprehensive understanding of all the moving parts within an offense. But the Bears, under his guidance, also had significant inconsistency issues, and the desired breakthrough for Fields never reached the level the team hoped.

All the positive traits the Bears identified in Getsy didn’t mean enough when his offense too frequently found itself sputtering.

Fields worked his hardest to master a system that was not ideal for him. Getsy’s troubleshooting efforts sometimes steered Fields away from concepts and plays he was most comfortable with.

It became a frustrating square dance. The quarterback was frequently adjusting to the play caller. The play caller was adjusting to the quarterback. The offense, in turn, was adjusting, readjusting, then adjusting yet again for large chunks of two seasons, impeding the opportunity to build momentum or expand, particularly in the passing game.

It was a fit issue. A significant one. And it’s a lesson Eberflus and Poles must learn as they try to set up Waldron for success.

Waldron’s experience and adaptive qualities should help. But with the Bears potentially at a pivot point at quarterback, striving to marry the offensive vision with the personnel must remain a priority as well.

For whatever it’s worth, Waldron’s Seahawks ranked behind the Bears this season in total offense, first downs, touchdowns, third-down conversion percentage and red-zone efficiency. They also had a bottom-five rushing attack.

Waldron must find ways to make his next offense much more potent. Whatever it takes. He must have solutions and ideas for maximizing his quarterback’s gifts while also playing to the strengths of the supporting cast.

And when the pressure rises? When the Bears reach those critical stages of close games? Waldron will be expected to consistently be at his best, bringing out the best in every player in his offense.

The Bears, naturally, are hopeful for what’s ahead. Ultimately, the results Waldron produces and his ability to help the team’s quarterback(s) shine will define his time in Chicago.

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The Chicago White Sox added to their bullpen depth Saturday, signing right-hander John Brebbia to a one-year deal, a source confirmed to the Tribune.

The move is pending a physical.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi initially reported the signing and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the deal is for $5.5 million.

Brebbia, 33, is 15-15 with a 3.42 ERA and two saves in 295 career appearances (21 starts as an opener) during six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (2017-19) and San Francisco Giants (2021-23). He has 321 strikeouts and 90 walks in 299 2/3 career innings.

He went 3-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 40 outings (10 as an opener) for the Giants in 2023. Brebbia had 47 strikeouts and 14 walks in 38 1/3 innings, missing a portion of the season with a right lat strain.

Brebbia underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2020 and made 18 appearances for the Giants in 2021. He led the National League with 76 outings the next season (11 as an opener), going 6-2 with a 3.18 ERA, 54 strikeouts and 18 walks in 68 innings.

The signing comes on the heels of the Sox agreeing to terms on a one-year contract with left-handed reliever Tim Hill last month.

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By WAFAA SHURAFA, KAREEM CHEHAYEB and MELANIE LIDMAN (Associated Press)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired on a large crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health officials.

Israeli officials acknowledged that troops opened fire, saying they did so after the crowd approached in a threatening way. The officials insisted on anonymity to give details about what happened, after the military said in a statement that “dozens were killed and injured from pushing, trampling and being run over by the trucks.”

Gaza City and the surrounding areas in the enclave’s north were the first targets of Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

While many Palestinians fled the Israeli invasion in the north, a few hundred thousand are believed to remain in the area, which has suffered widespread devastation and has been largely isolated during the conflict. Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid delivery to the area in a month, officials said Wednesday.

Aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys. The U.N. says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation; around 80% have fled their homes.

Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. “We’ve been eating animal feed for two months,” he said.

He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing them to scatter, with some hiding under cars. After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said.

Alaa Abu Daiya, another witness, said Israeli troops open fire and also that a tank fired a shell.

Medics arriving at the scene on Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.

Another man in the crowd — who gave only his first name, Ahmad, as he was being treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds to the arm and leg — said waited for two hours before someone with a horse-pulled cart had room to take him to Shifa.

Dr. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of the Al-Awda Hospital, said the facility received 161 wounded patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot. He said the hospital can only perform the most essential surgeries because it is running out of fuel to power emergency generators.

In addition to at least 104 people killed, around 760 were wounded, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The Health Ministry described it as a “massacre.”

Separately, the Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts from previous wars have largely matched those of the U.N., independent experts and even Israel’s own tallies.

The Hamas attack into southern Israel that ignited the war killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the militants seized around 250 hostages. Hamas and other militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 more, after releasing most of the other captives during a November cease-fire.

The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fueled international calls for another cease-fire, and the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are working to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages.

Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands.

In a statement condemning Thursday’s attack, Hamas said it would not allow the negotiations “to be a cover for the enemy to continue its crimes.”

Meanwhile, U.N. officials have warned of further mass casualties if Israel follows through on vows to attack the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has taken refuge. They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate what remains of aid operations.

Hundreds of thousands Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza despite Israeli orders to evacuate the area in October, and many have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says one in 6 children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said around 50 aid trucks entered nothern Gaza this week. It was unclear who delivered the aid. Some countries have meanwhile resorted to airdrops in recent days.

The World Food Program said earlier this month that it was pausing deliveries to the north because of the growing chaos, after desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy while it was en route.

Since launching its assault on Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has barred entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies except for a trickle of aid entering the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing. Despite international calls to allow in more aid, the number of supply trucks is far less than the 500 that came in daily before the war.

COGAT said Wednesday that Israel does not impose limits on the amount of aid entering. Israel has blamed U.N. agencies for the bottleneck, saying hundreds of trucks are waiting on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom for aid workers to collect them.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday countered by saying large trucks entering Gaza have to be unloaded and reloaded onto smaller ones, but there aren’t enough of them and there’s a lack of security to distribute aid in Gaza.

Hamas-run police in Gaza stopped protecting convoys after Israeli strikes on them near the crossing.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war