MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A federal immigration agent shot a man Wednesday evening after a scuffle in north Minneapolis, drawing a crowd of protesters blowing whistles and engaging in minor skirmishes with law enforcement who deployed chemical irritants.
The shooting comes one week after the killing of Renee Good by federal immigration officer Jonathan Ross in south Minneapolis touched off a wave of protests.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the man who was shot is an undocumented Venezuelan national who was pulled over in a “targeted traffic stop” but ran away. When the officer caught up to him, they got into a fight, after which two bystanders also attacked the officer, according to DHS.
The weapons used on the federal officer: “a shovel or broom stick,” according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. The initial subject was hit in the leg,” DHS said.
Their account couldn’t be confirmed.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in the briefing Wednesday night that at 6:51 p.m., MPD received 911 calls about the shooting.
The incident began on I-94, O’Hara said, where federal agents were trying to apprehend a man. The man drove towards a house on the 600 block of 24th Avenue North in north Minneapolis, where he crashed the car, ran towards a house and got into a struggle with federal agents when a federal agent shot him.
The man went into the house and refused to come out; eventually, federal agents entered the house. The man was transported to the hospital. His injuries are not life threatening, O’Hara said. He said he heard there was a snow shovel and a broom on the scene.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state agency that investigates law enforcement shootings, was on the scene along with FBI agents to process evidence.
It’s unclear if state authorities will be allowed to continue investigating the shooting. The U.S. Department of Justice blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation into the fatal shooting of Good, leading local prosecutors to open their own probe.
Scores of demonstrators showed up to the scene, shouting expletives at federal agents and telling them to get out of Minneapolis. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs, while some protesters shot fireworks at law enforcement. At least two people were detained by federal agents after someone threw fireworks at the agents. At least two vehicles believed to be used by federal officers were vandalized.
Anti-ICE demonstrators vandalized a vehicle in Minneapolis believed to be used by federal agents, in the aftermath of a shooting by a federal officer, the second in a week, Jan. 14, 2026. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
O’Hara said the crowd had crossed the line into an unlawful assembly and State Patrol and Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies responded to requests for help with crowd control.
Mayor Jacob Frey renewed his call for residents to remain peaceful and not “take the bait.”
“Go home,” Frey said. “We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”
By 11:30, law-enforcement and demonstrators had mostly left the scene, though some remained.
Frey also renewed his call for DHS to end its aggressive operation in the city, which the agency calls its largest operation ever. Minnesota along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul filed a lawsuit seeking to force DHS to end its operation, calling it a “federal invasion.”
The roughly 3,000 federal agents in the state far outnumber Minneapolis’ roughly 600 police officers, who are struggling to respond to 911 calls and investigate crimes on top of near round-the-clock confrontations between federal agents and residents.
“This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in,” Frey said.
Shawn Jackson was parked nearby the scene with his kids in the car. A law enforcement agency — unclear which one — set off flash bangs that detonated the airbags in his car. Officers then sprayed tear gas. The Minneapolis Fire Department took the children — including a baby suffering breathing problems, Jackson’s mother said — to the hospital.
“They out of control,” Jackson said.
Patricia Abrams was driving past with her sister when they saw the commotion and stopped.
She told the Reformer that the ICE incursion into Minnesota is illegal and should end.
“The public should know to get these motherf*cking ICE people outta here. They over here illegally trying to lock immigrants up. B*tch, y’all over here illegally — excuse my French — y’all here illegally trying to lock people up.”
She added: “D’f*ck’s wrong with you?”
Local and state politicians were also on the scene: Rep. Mohamud Noor, DFL-Minneapolis, and Minneapolis council members including Elliott Payne, Jason Chavez, Aisha Chughtai and Jamal Osman.
The shooting happened just moments before Gov. Tim Walz made a statewide address encouraging Minnesotans to record federal immigration actions, promising that “accountability is coming” for abuses by federal officers.
This story firs appeared on Minnesota Reformer.
