Police chief: 37-year-old Minneapolis resident dies in shooting involving federal agents
MINNEAPOLIS (OSV News) — Minneapolis city officials are reporting a fatal shooting involving federal agents occurred in south Minneapolis Jan. 24.
During a news conference mid-morning Jan. 24, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that at approximately 9:03 a.m., the Minneapolis Police Department received a report of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in the area of East 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis.
When officers arrived, O’Hara said they found “an adult male with multiple gunshot wounds.” Life-saving measures were implemented, O’Hara said, and the man was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
“Based on the information that we have, which is very limited, this is a 37-year-old white male who is a Minneapolis resident, and we believe he is an American citizen,” O’Hara said, as reported by The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “We have not been told any official reports of what has led up to the shooting, but we have seen the video that is circulating on social media.
“Our demand today,” O’Hara continued, “is for those federal agencies operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands.”
The deadly shooting comes amid increased federal immigration enforcement actions in the Twin Cities metro area; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has referred to this activity involving the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as “Operation Metro Surge.”
The shooting also comes 17 days after a shooting in Minneapolis involving an ICE agent — identified by media reports as Jonathan Ross — left 37-year-old Renee Good, of Minneapolis, dead.
Calls for prayer and peace
Catholic leaders have called for prayer and peace. Earlier in January, Archbishop Bernard Hebda shared the prayers he prayed as he had gathered with other regional bishops.
“I was praying for: consolation for the grieving members of the Good family; wisdom for our political leaders here and in Washington; prudence and safety for those charged with enforcing our laws; temperance on the part of those protesting; healing for those wounded by the divisions that cleave our state and our nation (especially our young); courage for our neighbors who have been living in fear; and a sense of hope for families directly impacted by the detention of loved ones,” he stated in his Weekly Word newsletter Jan. 12. “You won’t be surprised that I was also praying for our parish priests, deacons, pastoral ministers and educators who are dealing firsthand with all of these tensions, striving to bring the light of the Gospel and the balm of Jesus’ love into these difficult situations.”
Local, county, regional and state agencies are assisting Minneapolis police, O’Hara said; Minneapolis police, along with other local agencies, have set up a command center at the scene.
“We have had communication with Homeland Security (DHS),” O’Hara said, “but they have not been able to provide us any specific details around the incident itself.”
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate the impacts of this terrible situation,” said Rachel Sayre, director of the Emergency Management Department for Minneapolis, during the news conference. “We are tracking impacts and coordinating the city’s response to the situation, which is having profound repercussions in our community.
Impact on community
“I can’t underscore enough how much ‘Operation Metro Surge’ is impacting our city,” Sayre said, referring to families challenged in accessing basic necessities and businesses closing. “(O)ur local economy is severely impacted, which means families are suffering just as we were rounding a corner in our recovery.”
“(S)taff across departments, often around the clock, are putting their regular jobs on hold in order to respond to the impacts of ‘Metro Surge,'”Sayre said. She pointed to city resources that are available, including food assistance, rental and housing assistance, legal assistance, and mental health support.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted to social media that he has been in contact with the White House. “The President must end this operation,” he wrote, in part.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also addressed the president during the news conference. “To President Trump: This is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment. Let’s achieve peace. … We’re asking for you to take action now, to remove these federal agents.”
Protests in the Twin Cities, as recently as Jan. 23, have drawn thousands both in response to Good’s death and in response to wider federal activity.
“Just yesterday, we saw 15,000 people peacefully protesting in the streets, speaking out, standing up for their neighbors — not a single broken window, not a single injury,” Frey said during the mid-morning Jan. 24 news conference. “Those peaceful protests embody the very principles that both Minneapolis, and America, was founded upon.”
When asked during the news conference about the DHS response alleging an armed person approached agents, O’Hara said that local law enforcement responding to the scene “were not provided any public safety statement around the incident, what happened; we have since seen a video that is circulating online … so we do not know what happened prior to the recording that is online right now.”
O’Hara said he requested the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s assistance in investigating at the scene.
Rebecca Omastiak is the news editor at The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This story ran first in The Catholic Spirit and is distributed in partnership with OSV News.
The post Police chief: 37-year-old Minneapolis resident dies in shooting involving federal agents first appeared on OSV News.
