Driver Killed by ICE Agent in Minneapolis Identified as 37-Year-Old Mom By Christine Pelisek 607

A Minneapolis driver who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been identified as Renee Nicole Good.

Good’s mother Donna Ganger told the Minnesota Star Tribune that she was notified of her daughter’s death on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 7.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger said, per the Star Tribune. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

Good was fatally shot by an agent after a group of people allegedly started blocking officials during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

City Council member Jason Chavez described the 37-year-old mother as a U.S. citizen who was “an observer … watching out for our immigrant neighbors,” ABC News reported.

Good’s shooting death occurred just days after ICE launched large-scale raids in the city amid ramped-up rhetoric from President Donald Trump and his administration about Somali immigrants, PEOPLE previously reported.

“We’ve dreaded this moment since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis,” said Mayor Jacob Frey at a press conference on Wednesday. “This was a federal agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.”

Frey slammed the federal agency, warning them to “Get the f— out of Minneapolis.”

“We do not want you here,” Frey said. “Your stated purpose for being in this City is to create some kind of safety, but you are doing exactly the opposite.”

According to ABC News, citing city officials, Good suffered gunshot wounds to the head and was taken to a local hospital where she died.

She had previously been married to Timmy Ray Macklin Jr., who died in 2023 at the age of 36, according to the Star Tribune. Macklin’s father, Timmy Ray Macklin Sr., told the outlet he was shocked to hear the news.

He said Good and his son had a child who is now 6 years old, per the outlet.

“There’s nobody else in his life,” Macklin Sr. said. “I’ll drive. I’ll fly. To come and get my grandchild.”

Witness Emily Heller, who was at the scene, told NBC News she saw agents exit their vehicles and ask a driver who was parked perpendicular to traffic to leave the area.

“And then they went up to her car and started trying to open her door, and that’s when I’m sure she got spooked and tried to flee,” Heller told the outlet. “So, she reversed a little bit and then angled her wheels so she could drive away. And as she was trying to move forward, one of the ICE agents stepped in front of her vehicle and reached across the hood and fired his weapon about three or four times and shot her in the face.” 

Heller said the woman hit some cars and crashed into a post before slumping over in her vehicle, per NBC News.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. This was horrific and will change my life forever,” Heller said. “It’s just so terrifying. I feel so scared.” 

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In a statement following the incident, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged the driver “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”

She alleged the ICE agent who pulled the trigger was “fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a news conference that he has issued a “warning order” to prepare the state’s National Guard, ABC News reported.

He also asked for “peaceful resistance.”

“I want Minnesotans to hear this from me: The desire to get out in the protest and to speak up to this administration of how wrong this is — that is a patriotic duty at this point in time, but it needs to be done safely,” Walz said.