Minneapolis — Minneapolis was on edge Thursday after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer involved in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, with the governor calling for people to remain calm and for schools to cancel classes and activities as a precaution.
State and local officials asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the state after 37-year-old Renee Nicole McLean Goode was shot in the head. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the agents aren’t going anywhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the region in what it says is the largest immigration enforcement operation ever. Noem said more than 1,500 people have been arrested.
The killing of McLean Goode Wednesday morning in a residential neighborhood south of downtown was captured on video by witnesses, and by evening hundreds of people turned out for a vigil to mourn her and urge the public to resist immigration enforcement. Some then chanted as they walked through the city, but there was no violence.
“I would love for ICE to leave our city and for more community members to come see this happen,” said Sander Kolodziej, a painter who came to the vigil to support the community.
Videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV that stopped in the middle of the road, asking the driver to open the door and grab the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to move forward, and another ICE officer standing in front of it draws his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, then jumps back as the car moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos whether the vehicle made contact with the officer, and there is no indication whether the woman had interacted with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV sped off, hitting two cars parked on the sidewalk before crashing and stopping.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identified McLean Goode as her husband is seen crying near the car. The woman, whose identity has not been released, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and had a baby boy.
Noem described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “tried to run them over and hit them with her vehicle. Our officer acted quickly and defensively, and fired to protect himself and the people around him.”
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis.
AP Photo/Tom Baker
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended the work of ICE.
Noem claimed the woman was part of a “crowd of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate the matter.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”
“They’re really trying to paint this as self-defense,” Fry said. “After watching the video myself, I want to tell everyone directly, this is nonsense.”
He also criticized the federal deployment and said agents should leave.
The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday was at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since the Department of Homeland Security announced the launch of the operation on Tuesday, linked at least in part to fraud allegations involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.
In a scene that brought to mind the crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “Ace out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that became ubiquitous during the operations.
Governor Tim Walz said he is ready to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He expressed anger over the shooting but called on people to keep the protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media for the officer who shot McLean Goode to be prosecuted.
Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting incident with federal authorities.
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