What began as another tense morning at an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis ended with a mother of three dead inside her own car.
Renée Nicole Good, 37, was shot during a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on January 7, an incident that has since ignited grief, anger, and questions across the city.
Paramedics Find a Woman Fighting for Life
Emergency crews arrived at the scene at 9.42am to find Good slumped inside her Honda Pilot, unresponsive and bleeding.
According to a Minneapolis Fire Department report later obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune, blood was visible on her face and torso, and she appeared not to be breathing.
Her pulse, responders noted, was inconsistent.
First responders identified four gunshot wounds — two to her chest, one to her left forearm, and another to the left side of her head.
There was also bleeding from her ear. Medics pulled her from the vehicle and moved her onto the sidewalk as clashes erupted nearby between protesters and law enforcement.
Despite repeated attempts to save her — at the scene, inside an ambulance, and later at a hospital — Good never regained a pulse. CPR was discontinued at 10.30am.
The ICE Agent at the Center of the Shooting
The agent who fired the shots has been identified as Jonathan Ross.
Authorities say Ross also suffered internal bleeding to his torso after Good allegedly struck him with her vehicle.
Officials have not clarified the severity of his injuries, noting that internal bleeding can range from mild bruising to life-threatening trauma.
Exactly what happened in those seconds remains fiercely debated.
What the Videos Show — and What They Don’t
Footage from the scene shows an ICE officer approaching Good’s stopped SUV and grabbing the door handle, repeatedly demanding that she open the door.
Moments later, the Honda Pilot begins to move forward.
Ross can be seen pulling his weapon and firing three shots in quick succession as he jumps back from the vehicle.
It is unclear from the available videos whether the SUV actually made contact with him.
After the gunfire, Good’s vehicle continued forward, smashing into two cars parked along the curb before coming to a stop.
Blocking the Road Before the Shots Rang Out
In the minutes leading up to the shooting, witnesses say Good had been blocking the roadway with her SUV for roughly four minutes.
Around 20 seconds after she pulled into the street, a passenger believed to be her wife, Rebecca, exited the vehicle.
Rebecca eventually began filming the encounter.
Some have speculated that she stepped out specifically to document any confrontation with federal agents, though the exact moment she started recording remains unclear.
Several witnesses have described Good and Rebecca as acting as legal observers at the protest, using cameras to document police activity.
A Civil Rights Attorney Steps In
Civil rights attorney Antonio M. Romanucci, a founding partner of Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin, has announced that he is taking on Good’s case.
He says the public has not been given enough information about how the situation escalated so quickly.
“People in Minneapolis and across this country truly, truly care about what happened to Renée Good,” Romanucci said in a statement to the Washington Post.
“They want to understand how she could have been killed on the street after dropping her child off at school.”
He added that his team intends to provide updates as openly and quickly as possible as more facts emerge.
A Grandfather Who Refuses to Point Fingers
Not everyone closest to Good is calling for blame.
Timmy Macklin Sr., Good’s former father-in-law, has publicly said he does not hold ICE responsible for her death.
Good had been married to his son, who died in 2023, and Macklin is now the grandfather of her six-year-old son.
Pressed by CNN anchor Erin Burnett on whether the shooting was justified, Macklin said he wasn’t blaming anyone.
“It’s a hard situation all around,” he said. “I don’t blame ICE.
I don’t blame Rebecca. I don’t blame Renée.”
After watching video of the incident, Macklin said it appeared to him that Ross had been “rammed” by the vehicle — a claim that Democratic officials in Minneapolis have disputed.
Still, he acknowledged how quickly the moment unfolded.
“In a flash like that, it’s hard to say how you’d react,” he said.
Mixed Feelings About Rebecca’s Role
Macklin also addressed Rebecca’s actions in the moments before the shooting, when she was seen filming and allegedly taunting Ross.
Despite that, he described her as “a great person” and said he harbored no ill will toward her.
“But,” he added, “I think there were some bad choices.”
A Separate Federal Investigation Quietly Underway
Beyond the shooting itself, federal watchdogs have launched a separate investigation into ICE’s recent hiring surge.
The audit is examining whether the agency’s push to recruit 10,000 new agents led to dangerous shortcuts in vetting or training.
The probe was reportedly delayed after Department of Homeland Security officials were slow to provide documents.
While the review could take months, investigators may issue “management alerts” to address urgent concerns before a final report is sent to Congress.
What Comes Next
As multiple investigations move forward — one focused on Renée Good’s death, another on ICE’s internal practices — her family, her community, and a watching nation are left grappling with the same unresolved question: how a school drop-off and a street protest ended with a woman dead in broad daylight.f
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