Jonathan Ross, a 43-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer, fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on the morning of January 7, 2026, during a federal immigration operation in south Minneapolis. As of mid-2026, Ross has not been criminally charged. The U.S. Department of Justice refused to open a civil rights investigation, the Trump administration has asserted he is entitled to “absolute immunity,” and Minnesota state prosecutors are in federal court trying to force the release of evidence they need to decide whether to charge him themselves.
What Happened on Portland Avenue
The shooting occurred during “Operation Metro Surge,” a Department of Homeland Security enforcement push that sent as many as 2,000 federal agents into the Minneapolis–St. Paul area.1PBS NewsHour. Federal Agents Sent to Minneapolis Area to Carry Out Largest Immigration Operation Ever Good’s burgundy Honda Pilot came to a stop diagonally on Portland Avenue near a group of agents. Ross, recording on his cellphone, approached the vehicle. In his video, Good tells him, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” while her wife Becca Good holds up her own phone and tells the agent to “show your face.”2CNN. ICE Shooting Minneapolis Renee Good
Seconds later a second officer approached the driver’s side and ordered Good to “get out of the f—ing car.” Good put the SUV in reverse, then turned the wheel to the right. As the vehicle began moving forward, Ross fired three shots in rapid succession. The interval between the first and second was 399 milliseconds; between the second and third, 299 milliseconds. The first shot went through the windshield; additional shots were fired at close range through the open driver’s side window.3ABC News. Minneapolis ICE Shooting Minute-by-Minute Timeline
Three seconds after the shots, the Honda crashed into a parked car. Emergency responders arrived at 9:42 a.m. to find Good unresponsive with gunshot wounds to her chest, left forearm, and head. A man who identified himself as a physician tried to help and was turned away by federal agents who said their own medics were coming. Resuscitation efforts at the hospital were stopped at approximately 10:30 a.m.2CNN. ICE Shooting Minneapolis Renee Good Good, a mother of three, was pronounced dead. By 10:03 a.m., Ross had been removed from the scene and taken to a federal building.
The Government’s Account Versus the Video
DHS labeled the incident “an act of domestic terrorism,” said Good had “weaponized her vehicle” and tried to “run over” ICE officers, and described Ross’s shots as “defensive.”2CNN. ICE Shooting Minneapolis Renee Good Secretary Kristi Noem said Ross was struck by the vehicle and treated for what officials later described as internal bleeding to his torso.4CBS News. ICE Officer Who Shot Renee Good Internal Injuries
Bystander video contradicted key pieces of that account. An ABC News analysis found that Good turned her steering wheel to the right, away from the agent standing at the vehicle’s front-left, more than one second before Ross fired.3ABC News. Minneapolis ICE Shooting Minute-by-Minute Timeline A New York Times analysis of footage from three camera angles reached the same conclusion: the vehicle was moving away from the agent, not toward him, when he opened fire.5New York Times. Trump Minnesota ICE Shooting Video Bystander video also showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after the shooting, complicating the claim that he had been seriously injured.6MinnPost. Homeland Security Official Says Jonathan Ross Was Injured
Ross’s own 47-second cellphone clip, released by the conservative outlet Alpha News and reposted by Vice President JD Vance and DHS, captured audio of the encounter but not the moment of the shooting; the camera jerked upward when shots were fired. It showed Ross holding a gun in one hand and his phone in the other. DHS confirmed the video is authentic but has not answered whether Ross or other agents were wearing body cameras, which ICE policy requires during enforcement operations.7NPR. New Video Minnesota Shooting Officer Perspective
Why Ross Hasn’t Been Charged Federally
Within days of the shooting, the Trump administration foreclosed a federal prosecution. Vice President JD Vance said Ross had “absolute immunity” because he was “engaging in federal law enforcement action.”8CNN. ICE Immunity JD Vance Minneapolis President Trump said Good had “behaved horribly” and tried to “run over” the officer.5New York Times. Trump Minnesota ICE Shooting Video White House aide Stephen Miller said federal immigration agents have “absolute legal immunity in the performance of their duties.”9Law.com. Minneapolis Shootings Complicate ICE Agent Immunity
On January 18, 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the DOJ would not open a criminal civil rights investigation. “We don’t just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody,” he said.10Al Jazeera. DOJ Says Won’t Investigate ICE Agent’s Fatal Shooting of Renee Good An initial FBI review had reportedly concluded that opening an investigation was justified, but senior DOJ officials overruled it.11Just Security. Investigation ICE Jonathan Ross Renee Good
The DOJ then shifted its focus to Good herself and her widow, examining alleged ties to activist groups. FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly ordered agents who had arrived to process the crime scene to “stand down” and directed that warrants be rewritten to remove Good’s status as a victim, reframing her as the subject of an investigation for assaulting a federal officer.12U.S. Senate. Whitehouse Durbin Demand Investigation of DOJ Decision to Block Civil Rights Probe The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, initially part of the investigation, was cut out by federal officials.13NBC News. FBI Agent Resigns Investigation Shooting Renee Good
Six federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota resigned on January 13, 2026, including Joseph H. Thompson, a 17-year career prosecutor who had been second-in-command, along with fraud prosecutor Harry Jacobs and criminal division head Melinda Williams.14NPR. Minnesota Federal Prosecutors Resign After DOJ Push to Investigate Renee Good’s Widow They objected to the pressure to investigate Good’s widow rather than the agent who killed her.15The Guardian. DOJ Attorneys Resign Minneapolis ICE Shooting Tracee Mergen, a supervisor in the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, also resigned after leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue the civil rights inquiry.16U.S. House of Representatives. House Judiciary Committee Hearing Document
Can Minnesota Still Prosecute Him?
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison opened a state review. Moriarty has said she has authority to charge Ross for criminal acts committed in Hennepin County and that her office has “no preconceived opinion” about the evidence.17Star Tribune. How Mary Moriarty Could Approach Prosecuting ICE Agent Jonathan Ross Because the FBI is not sharing its case file, her office set up a secure portal for citizens to submit evidence directly.
On March 24, 2026, state and county officials sued the DOJ and DHS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force release of investigative materials related to Good’s death and two other Operation Metro Surge shootings. The complaint argues the federal refusal violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Tenth Amendment.18CBS News. Minnesota State County Sue Government Renee Good Alex Pretti Investigations The lawsuit remains active with no substantive rulings reported as of mid-2026.19Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Federal Lawsuit
Legal scholars have broadly rejected the administration’s “absolute immunity” position. Constitutional law professor Michael J.Z. Mannheimer said over 120 years of case law establishes that federal officials are not entitled to absolute immunity as a matter of law.8CNN. ICE Immunity JD Vance Minneapolis If Minnesota charges Ross, he is expected to invoke Supremacy Clause immunity and move the case to federal court, where a judge would apply a two-part test: whether he was acting in the course of official duties (generally a low bar), and whether his actions were objectively reasonable under the totality of the circumstances (a much harder question). If the court finds his use of force unreasonable, state prosecution proceeds in federal court applying Minnesota law.20The Marshall Project. ICE Minnesota Officer Renee Good
Analysts have pointed to Minnesota’s second-degree manslaughter statute, which covers deaths caused by “culpable negligence” creating an “unreasonable risk,” as a plausible charge. Use-of-force experts have questioned Ross’s decision to place himself in front of a moving vehicle, noting that most police departments discourage shooting at cars because bullets are unlikely to stop them and endanger bystanders.21Star Tribune. ICE Agent Who Fatally Shot Woman in Minneapolis Is Identified Minnesota law imposes no statute of limitations on crimes resulting in a victim’s death, so a state charging decision remains open indefinitely.22Lawfare. Minnesota Can Prosecute Jonathan Ross but It May Not Be Easy A conviction on state charges, even one prosecuted in federal court, would not be eligible for a presidential pardon.20The Marshall Project. ICE Minnesota Officer Renee Good
The June 2025 Bloomington Incident
Seven months before the Good shooting, Ross was involved in another violent encounter during an immigration arrest. On June 17, 2025, while attempting to apprehend Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala during a traffic stop in Bloomington, Ross broke a rear window and reached inside to unlock the door. Muñoz-Guatemala put the vehicle in drive and fled, dragging Ross an estimated 50 to 100 yards. Ross needed 20 stitches on his right arm, 13 on his left hand, and had abrasions to his knee, elbows, and face.23NBC News. ICE Officer Fatally Shot Minnesota Woman Was Dragged by Car in June A jury convicted Muñoz-Guatemala in December 2025 of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.24Newsweek. Jonathan Ross ICE Agent Shooting Minneapolis Minnesota
In April 2026, a federal judge ordered prosecutors to turn over Ross’s personnel files, body-camera footage, cell data, and medical records tied to the Good shooting after Muñoz-Guatemala’s defense attorney moved for a new trial or reduced sentence. Prosecutors were given until May 1, 2026, to produce the materials for judicial review.25The Intercept. Renee Good Killing Minneapolis Jonathan Ross Videos
Civil Claims by the Family
Good’s family, including her wife Becca, her parents Tim and Donna Ganger, and her siblings, retained Romanucci & Blandin to pursue a civil investigation. As of early 2026, no lawsuit had been filed. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the family must first file an administrative claim with the government and wait up to six months before suing in federal court. The attorneys sent preservation-of-evidence letters to federal agencies and said they “anticipate bringing legal action” alleging excessive force and negligence.26CNN. Renee Good Family Lawyers Case
The case faces significant hurdles. FTCA claims against the federal government are decided by a judge, not a jury. A separate constitutional claim against Ross individually, known as a Bivens action, is possible under the Fourth Amendment, but the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Egbert v. Boule has made such claims against immigration officers extremely difficult to sustain.27MPR News. Renee Macklin Good’s Family Has Hired a Lawyer
Where Ross Is Now
Ross was placed on administrative leave for three days after the shooting. Reports from May 2026 indicate he was quietly reassigned within DHS. New York Governor Kathy Hochul formally demanded information from DHS about whether Ross was working in her state, saying, “reassigning Jonathan Ross is not accountability.”28WCBU. Rep. Sorensen Calls for Justice Amid Reports Jonathan Ross Has Been Quietly Reassigned No charges, federal or state, had been filed against him as of mid-2026, and the state’s lawsuit to obtain investigative evidence remained pending.