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Frictions over investigations emerge after ICE agent fatally shoots Minneapolis woman

Minneapolis Public Schools families, educators and students hold signs during a press conference demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools and Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis.
Kerem Yucel/MPR
Minneapolis Public Schools families, educators and students hold signs during a press conference demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools and Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis.

Updated January 9, 2026 at 3:52 PM PST

State and local prosecutors in Minnesota are moving to collect and preserve evidence about an ICE agent's killing of Renee Good, working independently of the FBI. It's the latest sign of friction between the Trump administration and local officials over federal agents' use of lethal force in two separate shootings this week.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the initiative, announced Friday, is a response to federal authorities' decision to exclude state investigators from the FBI's investigation into the fatal shooting of Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday. 

Moriarty said she wants the government to reconsider that decision.

"Our efforts in advocating for a joint investigation is not an attack on the FBI," Moriarty said during a news conference. "We have had a strong working relationship with the local FBI field office throughout my administration."

With the FBI acting as the sole lead agency for the inquiry, she added, state and local authorities would be blocked from viewing the bureau's findings. They would also not have access to critical evidence, such as Good's car, any shell casings, and witness interviews. 

Moriarty said her office is working with the state attorney general's office to gather evidence and ensure a transparent investigation. They issued a call for Minneapolis residents to submit evidence online.

Officials in Oregon are also calling for a transparent inquiry into a second high-profile shooting this week involving federal agents, after Customs and Border Protection agents shot and injured two people in Portland on Thursday. As in the Minneapolis case, federal officials say the agents fired in self-defense, in line with their training.

"We know what the federal government says happened here," Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said of Thursday's shooting. "There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past. That is why we are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place."

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek echoed Wilson's call for answers, saying on X that a full and thorough investigation, not more detentions, should be the government's main priority.

Along with the rift between local and federal officials, reactions to the shootings, from public protests to online arguments, reflect a deep divide in how they're seen — as tragic abuses of power or law enforcement officers acting in self-defense.

Portland: Border Patrol shoot and wound 2 people

Shortly after 2:15 p.m. local time, a man and a woman were shot by federal agents in the Hazelwood neighborhood, according to the Portland Police Bureau. FBI Portland told member station OPB that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were involved.

Less than 10 minutes later, Portland officers responded to a call several miles away from a man who had been shot and was requesting help, Portland Chief of Police Bob Day said in a news conference.

"We found a male and a female with apparent gunshot wounds," Day said. "Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel."

The pair were taken to a local hospital and officers determined that they were wounded in the shooting involving federal agents, Day said. Details about their conditions have not emerged.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the shooting occurred while Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop. After agents identified themselves, McLaughlin alleged, the driver "weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents."

"Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot," she said in a statement, adding that the driver fled the scene in the car.

McLaughlin said the driver and passenger were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua but did not offer evidence of their gang association.

On Friday, Homeland Security identified the driver of the vehicle as Luis David Nico Moncada, and the passenger as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both from Venezuela.

Just hours after issuing a message of solidarity to Minneapolis, Portland Mayor Wilson convened a news conference about a shooting by federal officers in his own city. Wilson said he spoke to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Thursday about what he called the "recklessness" of federal actions under President Trump.

Like Frey, Wilson called for a halt to the "surge" of federal agents targeting cities such as Minneapolis and Portland.

Minneapolis: ICE agent in shooting is identified

Good died after being shot in her Honda Pilot SUV on Wednesday morning, in a residential area a few blocks north of where police killed George Floyd in May 2020.

ICE agents at the scene were trying to deal with a vehicle that had gotten stuck in the snow, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. As other ICE vehicles arrived, so did protesters. A witness named Caitlin Callenson told member station MPR that agents gave Good conflicting orders about either getting out of the vehicle or driving away.

(Warning: The video at the following link includes violent actions and profanity.)

Video footage from the scene shows Good's SUV sitting sideways on a snowy street, with her driver's side window down. As officers approach, the SUV moves forward — and an ICE agent who was near the front of the vehicle, later identified as Ross, opens fire at close range. The SUV then crashes into a nearby telephone pole.

NPR identified the ICE agent who shot and killed 37-year-old Good as Jonathan Ross by cross-referencing court records with details about the officer released by Noem at a Wednesday news conference. Noem — without naming the officer — spoke about a previous confrontation he had with a motorist.

"The very same officer who was attacked today had previously been dragged by an anti-ICE rioter who had rammed him with a car and [dragged] him back in June. He sustained injuries at that time, as well," she said.

The description of the incident matches a court case against a Mexican national, Roberto Carlos Munoz-Guatemala, who was found guilty in December of assaulting a federal officer in Bloomington, Minn. DHS confirmed to NPR that the court case is the one Noem referenced. Ross' name is mentioned in court documents for the case. According to the legal records, federal officers initiated a traffic stop of Munoz-Guatemala, who had been convicted of sexual abuse, in an attempt to arrest him. Munoz-Guatemala sped away after Ross had reached inside the vehicle, trapping the agent's arm and causing him to sustain injuries to his arm and hand.

Noem said that Wednesday's shooting occurred after protesters in Minneapolis harassed and impeded ICE agents and that the officer acted to protect himself and fellow officers. She alleged that Good's actions amounted to "an act of domestic terrorism."

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told NPR's Morning Edition that he disagrees with Noem's characterization of Good as a domestic terrorist.

"She was a compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer on behalf of her immigrant neighbors," Ellison said. "That's what she was doing at the moment of her death. And she was a poet. She was a mom. She was a daughter. And I am deeply saddened by what happened to her and her family."

Good's wife, Becca Good, said in a statement to MPR that when the shooting took place, the couple was attempting to support their neighbors.

"Renee leaves behind three extraordinary children; the youngest is just six years old and already lost his father," Becca Good said. "I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him."

Competing narratives quickly emerge

Minneapolis Mayor Frey and other local officials have dismissed Noem's version of events as political spin. At a news conference on Wednesday, Frey said of the self-defense explanation, "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody that is bull****. "

"This was a federal agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying," Frey said, adding that he wants ICE units to leave Minneapolis.

Hours after the shooting, Noem defended the ICE officer who shot Good, saying the woman had blocked federal officers with her SUV and disobeyed orders to get out of her vehicle.

"It's clearly established law that a vehicle driven by a person and used to harm someone is a deadly weapon," she said, as NPR reported. "Deadly force is perfectly lawful when a threat is faced by a weapon, so I do believe that this officer used his training in this situation."

When Noem was asked on Thursday whether the officer remains on field duty, Noem said he had gone to a hospital for treatment, but was then released "and is spending time with his family now."

She also said the federal surge in Minneapolis will continue, and could even grow.

"We've got thousands of officers there," she said, "and I'm not opposed to sending more if necessary to keep people safe."

What's next?

Investigations in Minneapolis and Portland are ongoing, and in both instances, the FBI is in charge of investigating the shootings by federal agents. 

In Portland, Day, the police chief, said that local police have been helping to secure scenes related to Thursday's shooting, but that's the extent of their involvement.  "This is a federal investigation. It's being led by the FBI," he said.

In Minnesota, O'Hara initially said on Wednesday that the FBI and Minnesota's state agency, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, would jointly investigate the fatal shooting.

But in a statement Thursday, the BCA said that the U.S. Attorney's Office reversed course at the federal level, and the FBI alone would lead the investigation, as MPR reports. The BCA said it "has reluctantly withdrawn" from the process, because it would no longer have access to case materials and evidence.

A day later, prosecutors in Minnesota unveiled their plan to pursue their own investigation of the case.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Bill Chappell
Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
Juliana Kim
Juliana Kim is a weekend reporter for Digital News, where she adds context to the news of the day and brings her enterprise skills to NPR's signature journalism.