What we know so far about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman Wednesday in south Minneapolis, the latest city to be targeted by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

The full picture of what exactly happened is still coming into focus, including through eyewitness accounts and videos. But federal officials are describing the killing in starkly different terms from state and local officials.

Minnesota investigators said they were supposed to conduct a joint probe into the shooting with the FBI, but later "reluctantly" withdrew from the effort when the federal agency shut them out from accessing evidence.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said in a statement Thursday that the FBI told the agency that the U.S. Attorney's Office had "reversed course" and said the probe would now only be led by the FBI. With that change, the Minnesota agency would "no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews," wrote BCA Superintendent Drew Evans.

"It feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation," Gov. Tim Walz said in a news conference Thursday. "It feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome," adding that various federal officials, including the President Donald Trump himself, have made claims that are "verifiably false."

Watch Thursday's news conference with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the player above.

Thousands of people gathered in Minneapolis on Wednesday night for a vigil and peaceful protest against ICE's presence in the city. A makeshift memorial of candles and flowers appeared near the intersection where the woman, identified as Renee Nicole Macklin Good, was killed.

Protests resumed in the city Thursday with a demonstration outside the Whipple Federal Building, which stations immigration agents.

Minnesota public schools cancelled classes for the rest of the week, citing safety concerns following a separate incident that occurred hours after the shooting Wednesday. ICE agents deployed tear gas at a high school, according to the teacher's union. ICE also detained a union member during that incident, who was later released.

How did the shooting occur?

People stand by a makeshift memorial at the scene of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Tim Evans/Reuters

Minneapolis Police Department chief Brian O'Hara said officers responded to a report Wednesday morning of shots being fired in an incident involving federal law enforcement.

The city's officers found a woman with a gunshot wound to the head who was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, the police chief said in a news conference Wednesday.

O'Hara offered a preliminary picture of what happened: The woman was in her car and blocking a roadway. A federal officer then approached the motorist on foot while the vehicle began to drive away. At least two shots were fired and then the vehicle crashed alongside the roadway.

A demonstrator holds a picture of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, as people protest Thursday against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its increased presence in Minneapolis after an ICE agent fatally shot the 37-year-old woman Wednesday. Photo by Tim Evans/Reuters

The ICE officer has yet to be identified by authorities. The ICE officer has yet to be identified by authorities. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified the agent as Johnathan Ross, an officer who was dragged by a suspect's car in a separate incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, last summer.

Citing court documents, the newspaper and other outlets reported that the incident occurred during the arrest of a Mexican citizen. When the suspect repeatedly refused agents' commands to roll down his window and open his door, Ross busted the rear window to try to unlock the driver's side door. The suspect then sped off, dragging Ross alongside the vehicle and was eventually knocked off. Ross needed dozens of stitches in his right arm and left hand. A jury later convicted the suspect of assaulting a federal officer.

A senior DHS official told CNN that the agent who shot Macklin Good has a decade of experience and is involved with the special response team of the ICE branch that handles removals, which arrests and deports undocumented immigrants.

Macklin Good's mother told the Minnesota Star Tribune she was "loving, forgiving and affectionate."

The 37-year-old is a mother of three and a U.S. citizen born in Colorado. Macklin Good's social media accounts said she was a poet. She won a prestigious poetry prize in 2020 for her poem, "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pig."

Her ex-husband told the Associated Press that Good had dropped off her 6-year-old son at school before encountering ICE agents. Good was also in the vehicle with her current partner when the shooting occurred, he said.

There was "nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation," the police chief said.

Videos taken by bystanders and posted to social media show two officers approaching a car that is stopped across the middle of a snowy and icy road. One officer attempts to open the driver's side door and reaches into the vehicle as it starts reversing. A third officer with his gun drawn crosses in front of the car as it moves away from the agents. That officer, who appears to be knocked backward but not hit, opens fire on the vehicle. The car then speeds toward the curb, crashing into parked vehicles.

Watch the segment in the player above.

A witness told PBS News on Wednesday that he believed the motorist was trying to get away.

"There was definitely space to get – to drive forward without hitting anybody," Aidan Perzana said. "I did not even think there was a risk of her hitting anybody."

John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director under President Barack Obama, told PBS News that having seen two videos of the incident he was concerned about a rush to judgment "on both sides," but found DHS' statement "particularly irresponsible."

"The video certainly raises concerns as to whether or not the officer had a reasonable basis to believe his life or the life of his fellow agents were in either serious danger of death or bodily injury."

What the Trump administration is saying

The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting was an act of self-defense. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told PBS News in a statement that the ICE officer fired defensively, "fearing for his life" and the lives of others.

Speaking from Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likened the incident to an "act of domestic terrorism" against ICE officers by a motorist who tried to run them over with her vehicle.

"An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him," she told reporters.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the shooting on social media, suggesting the driver was "very disorderly" and "viciously ran over the ICE Officer, [sic]" who he said was recovering in the hospital after the incident. DHS' McLaughlin said in the statement that "the ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries."

Later, when a group of New York Times reporters asked the president about his view that the woman was at fault in the shooting, Trump doubled down on his conclusion that she was attempting to run over the ICE agent.

Trump then asked an aide to play a video of the scene on a laptop, meant to underscore his view.

"It's a terrible scene," Trump said, according to the Times.

Vice President JD Vance blasted the media Thursday for "lying" in its coverage of the shooting.

"The reason this woman is dead is because she tried to ram somebody with her car, and that guy acted in self-defense," he said. "That is why she lost her life. And that is the tragedy."

Vance later described Macklin Good as "brainwashed" and a "victim of left-wing ideology" that's trying to incite violence against ICE agents.

What Minnesota officials are saying

Watch the clip in the player above.

Frey strongly rebuked the federal characterization of events, saying that he had viewed footage of the incident.

"They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense," he said. "I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bulls**t."

A reporter asked Frey whether the woman was driving her car as a "weapon" toward the ICE agent. The mayor said that didn't appear to be the case.

Frey said the ICE agent was "recklessly using power" that resulted in a person's death.

"They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust," Frey said.

He then said he had a message to ICE: "Get the f**k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here."

Walz addressed Minneapolis residents in a later news conference Wednesday, saying, "I feel your anger."

The governor, who mentioned the protests following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd throughout Wednesday's news conference, then asked for any protests to remain peaceful. "They want a show," he said of the Trump administration. "We can't give it to them."

He then addressed the Trump administration.

"We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: You've done enough," the governor added.

As Trump administration officials stuck to their interpretation of events, Walz made a plea to federal officials Thursday, asking for them to "give us accountability, listen to local leaders, ratchet down the rhetoric, let people feel safe in their person, and let's let our kids go to school without fear."

Why is ICE in Minneapolis?

Members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement gather at the scene where a driver was shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Tim Evans/Reuters

Minneapolis is the latest major U.S. city to see a surge of immigration enforcement activity. The Trump administration sent more than 2,000 federal agents to the area earlier this week. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Newsmax that this is the "largest immigration operation ever."

The deployment followed mounting scrutiny from federal investigators over fraud allegations targeting Somali child care providers in the state. Trump has also singled out Somalis in his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

In his social media post, Trump claimed that the "Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting" law enforcement officers and ICE agents on a "daily basis."

Walz, who had called the deployment a "war" against Minnesota, responded to DHS' social media post about the shooting, saying he had viewed video of the incident.

"Don't believe this propaganda machine," the governor wrote. "The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice."

PBS News' Daniel Cooney contributed to this report.