Minnesota law-enforcement officials said the FBI has shut them out of the investigation examining the fatal shooting of a woman in her car by an ICE agent.
The death of Renee Nicole Good , who was killed in Minneapolis Wednesday in an incident that saw local officials disputing the Trump administration’s version of events, sparked protests demanding immigration enforcement agents leave the city.
After the shooting, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agreed to conduct a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Drew Evans, the agency’s superintendent. The FBI later notified Minnesota officials it would handle the investigation on its own and would no longer provide state officials with access to case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews, he said.
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” Evans said Thursday. “As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation.”
The FBI’s Minneapolis office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protesters gathered Thursday following overnight vigils where hundreds gathered to mourn Good, 37 years old, who was killed in her car by a still-unnamed ICE officer on Wednesday morning.
People gather by a makeshift memorial to attend an interfaith presser held at the scene of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, during a rally against increased immigration enforcement across the city at the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans
The Department of Homeland Security said the agent fired in self-defense after Good attempted to run over officers, but state and city officials have questioned that version of events.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good had blocked ICE officers with her car and was “stalking and impeding” their work. President Trump described Good as “a professional agitator” in a post on Truth Social, alleging that she “violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey doubled down on his criticism of ICE operations in interviews Wednesday night, calling the narrative described by Noem and Trump “bull—t.”
“The way that ICE is behaving is reckless not just in this incident but in numerous others,” Frey said in an interview with CNN. “The chief and I have been saying not just privately but very publicly for well over a month that something like this was going to happen,” he added.
“This is not just about Minneapolis but this is about the endurance of our republic,” Frey said. “The things that are happening are not just illegal, they are unconstitutional,” he added. “What they are doing is terrorizing communities.”
Protesters outside the federal Whipple Building Thursday recalled the 2020 killing of George Floyd just a few blocks from where Good was shot. Some held signs remembering Floyd, a Black man who died pleading for his life while Derek Chauvin , a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Other protesters chanted calls for ICE to leave the city.
Minneapolis Public Schools canceled classes for Thursday and Friday because of safety concerns related to the shooting.
Videos of the incident, which took place on a residential street south of downtown Minneapolis, were shared widely on social media. The videos show Good’s car stopped in the middle of a one-way road. Several agents can be seen approaching the car, ordering her to get out before she tries to back it up and drive off. As the car advances, an agent fires shots into the car. Good’s vehicle then travels a few more feet before crashing into a parked car.
A bullet hole in the windshield of a vehicle, after the fatal shooting of the driver Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 7, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans
Vice President JD Vance defended the agent’s actions Thursday.
“This guy was doing his job,” Vance said. “She tried to stop him from doing his job. When he approached her car, she tried to hit him.”
Democratic leaders denounced the Trump administration and its policies and called for a full investigation into the shooting. “The killing of Renee Nicole Good was an abomination,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said Thursday. “Blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who’ve been pushing an extreme policy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said, “There seems no justification for what these agents did.”
Aidan Perzana , 31, said he watched the shooting from a second-floor window in his home. He said he saw two men he believed to be agents surround a maroon Honda Pilot while another pulled on the driver’s side handle a couple of times. The Pilot reversed and then pulled away while one of the men opened fire by the driver’s side door, Perzana said.
“It looked solidly like she was attempting to escape,” said Perzana, a data engineer in Minneapolis.
He said he saw the car drive around 30 feet before drifting into another vehicle and a telephone pole. He said agents ran to the car but none tried to help the driver.
A man at the scene of the shooting who identified himself as a physician asked federal agents if he could conduct a pulse check for Good, who can be seen slumped over in her vehicle, according to footage verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal.
A demonstrator holds a sign during an anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest march in Lower Manhattan, opposing increased immigration enforcement in New York City, U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Segar
“We have medics on scene, we have our own medics,” an agent responded.
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com , Gareth Vipers at gareth.vipers@wsj.com and Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com
