Federal agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deployed less-than-lethal crowd control measures after an ICE agent was forced to open fire in self-defense.
The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, when ICE agents made contact with a Venezuelan illegal alien who was released into the country under the Biden Administration in 2022. The subject attempted to flee in a vehicle, but soon crashed into a parked car before continuing to flee on foot.
An agent soon caught up with the subject and became locked in a “violent” struggle, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — which oversees ICE and CBP — announced in a statement. Two additional individuals then came out of a nearby apartment building and proceeded to attack the agent with a shovel and a broom handle, DHS said.
Fearing for his life, the officer then opened fire in self-defense, striking the initial subject in the leg. Both the officer and the wounded illegal alien were then transported to local hospitals, with the latter reported to be in stable condition while in custody.
The additional two attackers were also taken into custody.
Almost immediately after the shooting — before any facts were established — protesters began to gather around the site of the shooting. Protests have been continuing in varying degrees of intensity over the last several days following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a local “ICE watch” activist who was attempting to block agents with her car during an immigration enforcement operation on January 7.
Good was then approached by federal agents and told to exit the vehicle, at which point she accelerated forward and struck an agent positioned directly in front of her car. Good was killed after being struck in the head, multiple angles of the incident show.
🚨 BREAKING: DHS agents deploy FLASHBANGS and TEARGAS as rioters begin throwing objects at them after an ICE-involved shooting
Agents are NOT putting up with the abuse
DO NOT BACK DOWN! pic.twitter.com/h8fXSRG9dh
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 15, 2026
Immediately after Wednesday evening’s shooting, DHS immediately dispatched reinforcements to the scene of the shooting, as well as federal buildings and immigration buildings in the Twin Cities region.
Agents deployed less-than-lethal crowd control munitions like tear gas, flash-bangs and rubber ballots while pushing back the crowd around the shooting site, footage captured by on-the-ground reporter Nick Sortor shows. Sortor further reported that agents in riot gear with the Federal Bureau of Prisons responded to the scene in force immediately as protesters began to gather.
Wednesday’s events come amid Operation Metro Surge, which DHS is referring to as the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. The operation began with approximately 2,000 federal agents and officers from ICE, DHS, and related agencies deployed to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but has since surged to more than 3,000 agents in response to violent demonstrations from leftist agitators.
DHS and ICE have reported over 2,000 arrests of illegal aliens since the operation began in late December. Several agitators have also been arrested for assaulting agents and impeding federal law enforcement operations.
🚨 NOW: Attorney General Pam Bondi has deployed federal PRISON GUARDS IN RIOT GEAR to protect DHS agents in Minneapolis
This federal response is growing every day
Send in the MARINES next! pic.twitter.com/mvvKnQK3ux
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 15, 2026
