Who was Renee Nicole Good, woman shot dead by ICE agent in Minneapolis?

Renee Nicole Good was a poet, a mother of three and new to Minneapolis. On Wednesday, she was shot dead inside her car by a federal agent, an incident that has triggered protests and a national debate over what happened on a snowy Minneapolis street.

Good, 37, was killed during an encounter with officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Authorities under the Trump administration described her as a domestic terrorist who attempted to ram agents with her vehicle.

According to her ex-husband, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing concerns for the safety of their children, Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school and was driving home with her current partner when they came across a group of ICE agents. Bystander videos posted on social media show an officer approaching her car, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle began to move forward, another officer standing in front of it drew his weapon and fired at least two shots at close range.

Good was a US citizen, born in Colorado, with no known criminal history beyond a traffic ticket, according to her ex-husband. On social media, she described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom,” and wrote that she was “experiencing Minneapolis,” often sharing posts about art, writing and family life.

She graduated from Old Dominion University in December 2020 with a degree in English and won an undergraduate poetry prize the same year, according to the university’s English Department.

Good was raised in Colorado Springs and later lived in Kansas City, Missouri, before moving to Minnesota last year. She had a daughter, 15, and a son, 12, from her first marriage, and a 6-year-old son from her second marriage. Her second husband died in 2023. In recent years, she had largely been a stay-at-home mother, though she has worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union.

Her mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the family was notified of Good’s death late Wednesday morning. “Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger said. “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.”

Family members have firmly rejected claims that Good was protesting or confronting law enforcement. “She was not part of anything like that at all,” Ganger said. Her ex-husband added that he had never known her to participate in protests. He described her as a devoted Christian who had taken part in youth mission trips and loved singing and writing.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a statement offering condolences, saying his thoughts were with Good’s family and loved ones, including those in Colorado.

As investigations and protests continue, Renee Nicole Good’s life story has become central to questions surrounding the circumstances of her killing and the official accounts that followed.

- Ends

With inputs from agencies

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