MINNEAPOLIS — As emergency crews responded to a shooting in south Minneapolis involving a federal immigration officer, witnesses say EMS was unable to immediately reach the patient after federal law enforcement vehicles blocked the roadway and crowds gathered at the scene.
The shooting occurred Jan. 7 near the intersection of 34th Street and Portland Avenue, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were conducting federal operations. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that an ICE officer shot and killed a woman, later identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
Emily Heller told NBC News she saw “six or seven ICE vehicles” outside her home and watched agents converge on the driver’s vehicle.
After the shooting, Heller said agents would not allow anyone near the woman’s car and told bystanders that emergency services were on the way. In a video Heller shared with NBC News, a man who identified himself as a physician asked if he could check the woman’s pulse, but was denied. In that same video, an ICE officer can be heard saying, “We have our own medics.”
Heller estimated it took “about 15 minutes” for EMS to arrive and said the delay was because vehicles were blocking the street. She told NBC News that when responders were finally able to get through, they came in on foot.
“They were on foot when they got through, and they carried her body out, just like by her limbs, they didn’t even have a stretcher,” Heller told NBC News. “She was carried out like a sack of potatoes.”
Aidan Perzana, 31, whose home faces the street where the shooting occurred, also described federal vehicles blocking access for ambulances. Perzana told NBC News that an ambulance arrived “around 10 minutes later,” but he said it could not reach the vehicle because ICE vehicles were in the roadway.
“They were parked all askew, blocking traffic,” said Perzana. “They didn’t clear the way for the ambulance, so some people approached on foot.”
Perzana said ICE vehicles remained positioned in a way that prevented the ambulance from accessing the scene directly, forcing responders to navigate around the blockage as tensions grew between federal agents, local police and protesters.
In a statement released later Wednesday, the city of Minneapolis said police officers responded to reports of shots fired and found a woman with life-threatening gunshot wounds to the head.
According to the city, Minneapolis firefighters removed the 37-year-old woman from the vehicle and immediately began lifesaving measures until paramedics could respond. She was then transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she later died.
City officials did not specify how long it took for paramedics to reach the scene or address witness accounts of access delays.
As the morning progressed, hundreds of protesters gathered in the neighborhood, and law enforcement deployed pepper spray and tear gas, according to KARE. Images from the scene showed individuals being treated for exposure to chemical irritants as clashes erupted between protesters and federal agents.
DHS said the shooting occurred after the woman allegedly attempted to ram ICE agents with her vehicle, a claim Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey publicly disputed after reviewing video of the incident.
“This ‘it was done in self-defense’ is garbage,” Frey said during an afternoon press conference. “Having seen the video myself, that is bull***t.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the woman was not the target of law enforcement activity and emphasized that Minneapolis police do not enforce immigration laws. O’Hara also confirmed that local officers were primarily focused on crowd control and scene security as federal agents conducted their operation.
Video circulating on social media appears to show the woman attempting to drive away as agents surrounded her vehicle before shots were fired. The vehicle later struck a light pole, with visible damage to nearby parked cars.
Today, 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.…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 7, 2026
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office confirmed it has jurisdiction to review the use of force and determine whether charges are warranted.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz placed the National Guard on standby as protests continued into the afternoon, urging demonstrators to remain peaceful while officials worked to gather information.
Good’s death remains under investigation.
