It started with loud honking. Neighbors saw federal agents on the street, surrounding a maroon SUV then heard gunshots. What followed was a morning that left many horrified, as an encounter between federal agents and a U.S. citizen turned deadly.
Federal officials confirmed that a U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agent fatally shot a woman near the corner of 34th Street and Portland Avenue on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that the officers shot in self defense, a claim Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz disputed on Wednesday.
Sahan Journal reporters present at the scene spoke to neighbors and others on site. Here’s what they said they saw:
Alex Weekes, neighbor
- Weekes woke up in the morning when he heard a car honking outside his house. He looked out his window and saw a maroon SUV parked in the street blocking other vehicles from moving along the street. He said he saw federal agents step out of their vehicle and approach the SUV, and then heard gunshots.
- “The [person] in the SUV tried driving away from them when they did that,” he said of the agents approaching the SUV. “There was one [federal agent] near the front corner of the car, and they shot [the driver] three times.
- “I was just thinking, ‘Damn, did ICE just really shoot a [expletive] guy outside my house?’ I mean you never think that’s going to happen literally across the street.”
Trevor Heitkamp, neighbor
- Heitkamp left his house for a cigarette shortly before 9:45 a.m., heard a commotion, walked down the street and started recording.
- The driver appeared to be trying to turn her vehicle around, Heitkamp said. He said she was going no more than 5 miles an hour and was receiving direction from multiple federal agents. Heitkamp heard several people shout, “No,” and then heard multiple gunshots.
- The woman’s car rolled forward and crashed, and less than a minute later a passenger exited covered in blood. The two people in the car appeared to be white women, he said.
- He added that a man who also witnessed the shooting shouted at ICE that he was a doctor and asked to perform first aid. “The ICE agents told him to back up and stay on the sidewalk,” Heitkamp said.
- He heard ICE agents call out, “No pulse.” About two minutes later, EMS crews arrived, administered CPR and carried the victim to an ambulance.
- “It didn’t need to happen,” Heitkamp said. “And I don’t think the government has the right to kill its citizens for inconveniencing them.”
Tyrice Jones, neighbor
- He heard gunshots followed by a crash outside his building at 34th Street and Portland Avenue on Wednesday morning.
- Jones came outside and saw a woman in a maroon SUV bleeding from what he believed was a gunshot wound.
- There were ICE agents around the car, Jones said, adding that a woman who appeared to know the victim was crying in front of an apartment building asking for a doctor.
- “They weren’t trying to do [expletive] for her. Nothing,” Jones said. “She was just there, lifeless.”
Aaron Nesheim, Sahan photojournalist, present at the scene
- He reported seeing a car that had crashed, with a lone woman in the driver’s seat. The airbag was deployed and covered in blood.
- The woman was slumped over the airbag. Minneapolis firefighters pulled her out of the car and moved her down the street to 34th Street and Portland Avenue, where they began performing CPR.
- Twenty to 30 ICE agents were on the scene around 9:50 a.m., and a crowd had started to gather.
- The crowd continued to grow as the woman was taken to the hospital. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara arrived and briefly spoke to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.
- Minneapolis police eventually brought in an armed tactical vehicle, apparently to help with crowd control.
Liliana Zaragoza, attorney, present at the scene
- Liliana Zaragoza was in the neighbourhood after dropping off her child at school when she heard consistent honking and drove towards 34th and Portland. On arriving, she saw at least a dozen SUVs and officers wearing vests that indicated they were ICE agents.
- She also saw Minneapolis Police Department officers at the scene. Zaragoza said she got out of the car and walked towards an MPD officer to ask what the nature of the operation was. “It is a crime scene now,” the officer told her.
- When she walked back to her car, she saw a woman on the sidewalk, undressed, with blood on her face and hair. First responders were performing CPR, but “that person looked lifeless from the moment I saw them,” Zaragoza said, audibly rattled by the incident.
