ICE officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis, investigation underway

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has seen video of the shooting and disputes the Department of Homeland Security’s narrative.

“Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” Walz said. “The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said President Donald Trump’s decision to send thousands of federal agents to Minnesota is “causing serious harm and spreading terror” through the community.

In a post on X, Ellison said his “heart goes out” to the woman killed by an ICE agent Wednesday.

“While there’s a lot we don’t know at this time, let me be clear about one thing: Donald Trump’s decision to send thousands of armed ICE agents to Minnesota is causing serious harm and spreading terror throughout our communities. His reckless decision to escalate the aggression and number of immigration agents is a causal factor, regardless of the outcome of an investigation into this tragic death. I will do everything I can to change this awful path we are on,” he wrote.

Ellison added that “if anyone broke the law in today’s act of violence, I will do all I can to ensure they are held accountable.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said federal officials’ narrative that the ICE agent who killed a woman did so in self-defense is “bull***t.”

“This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying. Getting killed,” Frey said. He later added, “What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative. That is not true. It has no truth.”

Frey also told ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”

“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,” he said.

The mayor called on the community to remain peaceful in the aftermath.

“I understand the anger,” he said. “Let’s unite around hope and love and peace and getting justice.”

Frey said the woman killed was 37 years old. He said he does not know the identity of the ICE agent who shot her.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said “there is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity.” He added that the ICE agent fired at least two shots and struck the woman in the head. After first responders tried to save her at the scene, she was taken to Hennepin Healthcare and pronounced dead.

O’Hara said the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are jointly investigating the shooting.

“We do need to make sure that our local agencies are involved [in the investigation],” Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said. “That is something that is needed for our communities.”

Jaylani Hussein, who leads the Minnesota chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, accused the Department of Homeland Security of “lying” about the shooting death of a woman in south Minneapolis.

“A young observer killed in the line of observing, we believe in a peaceful manner, they are lying as you hear today. They already shared lies about what took place,” Hussein said, speaking into a megaphone.

The DHS said an ICE officer shot the woman after she “weaponized her vehicle.”

“We do have cameras, we do have eye witnesses, they will not be able to lie through that. The truth will come out, and the public must be reminded in this moment that no one is above the law. No one. No ICE. No one is above the law,” Hussein said.

He also called on local agencies to bring charges “where warranted and hold these officers who killed this young woman responsible.”

In a statement, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said the victim was a “legal observer.”

“ICE must stop terrorizing our communities and leave our city,” she said.  

Minnesota Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith released a statement late Wednesday morning about the shooting, noting the victim is a “U.S. citizen.”

“ICE should leave now for everyone’s safety. Please be safe Minneapolis,” Smith said.

In Chicago, federal prosecutors accused 30-year-old Marimar Martinez and 21-year-old Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz of “boxing in” federal immigration agents and ramming an agent’s vehicle in October as agents clashed with community members in Logan Square.

The Justice Department said the agents then got out of their vehicle and fired five shots at Martinez, even though she was still inside her car at the time. She was able to drive away, and paramedics found her and her car at a repair shop about a mile away. She was taken to the hospital for treatment and quickly released.

Martinez was charged with assault of a federal employee, but prosecutors dropped the charges six weeks later. They were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled at a future date.

Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for public affairs, released this statement late Wednesday morning:

“ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.

“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers. The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.

“This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement. These men and women who are simply enforcing the law on the books are facing 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats. This is an evolving situation, and we will give the public more information as soon as it becomes available.”

Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez, who represents the area of the shooting, said in an interview at the scene that “the ICE agent that shot somebody should be arrested effective immediately.”

When asked if he had a message to his community, Chavez said that he wants to encourage residents to “patrol our neighborhoods.”

“We need community patrols on our streets, preventing the kidnapping of our neighbors from these inhumane ICE agents that are only here to tear our families apart,” Chavez told WCCO. “We need people to drive their neighbors to work, provide food, address the rent issues that they’re struggling with, to make sure that people can live in this city peacefully.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement Wednesday morning her office is “pushing hard for a local investigation which is the only way to ensure full transparency and review.”

“We will use every available lever to ensure a local, transparent investigation takes place,” Moriarty said.

WCCO’s Adam Duxter, live at the scene, says it appears federal law enforcement have left the scene on Portland Avenue.

Minneapolis police and deputies with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office are still on the scene for crowd control measures, and metal gates have been set up to keep protesters at bay.

The U.S. Border Patrol commander has arrived in Minneapolis, according to a X post by city council member Jason Chavez.

Chavez posted a photo of Gregory Bovino walking down 33rd Street and Portland Avenue, flanked by three agents wearing masks. 

Officials said Bovino, who has overseen several controversial immigration operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans, said he is expected to lead enforcement efforts in Minnesota as well.

WCCO cameras captured federal agents using chemical irritants on protesters in the vicinity of 34th and Portland in South Minneapolis.

This happened after a number of protesters began throwing snowballs at federal vehicles on the scene.

A WCCO photojournalist witnessed multiple Minneapolis City Council members walking the perimeter of the scene, trying to calm the crowd and explain that they are trying to get ICE out of the scene.

A day before Wednesday’s shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said he feared the growing presence of federal agents in the city would lead to violence.

“I’ve been concerned for weeks that because the issue is so emotional, because, frankly, some of the way this stuff has been carried out, the greatest risk to me is that there would be unrest or that there would be a tragedy,” O’Hara said. “That somebody could get seriously hurt or killed because of what’s happening.”

Also on Tuesday, in an interview with WCCO, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the goal of the federal operations is “chaos and terrorizing people.”

“This political theater that they’re engaging in has real impacts on our constituents,” Frey said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is calling on federal forces to withdraw from the city following Wednesday morning’s incident in south Minneapolis.

“I am aware of a shooting involving an ICE agent at 34th Street & Portland. The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city. We’re demanding ICE to leave the city immediately,” Frey said. “We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”

Sen. Tina Smith said, “I’m aware of the reports of an ICE related shooting in Minneapolis and am working as hard as I can to get answers. I’ll share any updates as I learn more.”

Gov. Tim Walz said in a post on X that his team is “working to gather information on an ICE related shooting” Wednesday morning.

“We will share information as we learn more. In the meantime, I ask folks to remain calm,” he wrote.

A witness at the scene tells WCCO’s Conor Wright she heard two gunshots fired in the area, followed by a car crash.

“I see a red truck, airbag inflated with blood all over it and a woman on the side of the road, and the ambulance trying to come through,” the witness said. “[Federal agents] were trying to tell me to move out of the way when they had their trucks blocking me.”

The witness says the victim was a mother “trying to flee from ICE agents.”

Last month in St. Paul, Minnesota, a federal agent fired their weapon after being hit by a vehicle, according to police.

The agent suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and no one was hurt in the shooting, police said. 

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the suspect was an undocumented immigrant from Cuba who was “noncompliant” during a traffic stop.  

McLaughlin said the shooting would be reviewed by “the appropriate law enforcement agency,” as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a post to social media, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says it’s “aware of an incident” off Portland Avenue and East 34th Street, but its deputies were “not involved in the incident.” 

“We have sent deputies to the area to assist as needed,” the sheriff’s office writes.