Star Tribune identifies ICE agent who fatally shot woman in Minneapolis
Jonathan Ross was dragged in a separate incident last year by a fleeing driver, according to court records.
By Liz Sawyer,
Andy Mannix and
Sarah Nelson
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 8, 2026 at 11:50PM
A screenshot of a video shows ICE officer Jonathan Ross shortly after he fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. (Screenshot via Max Nesterak on X)
video shows ICE officer Jonathan Ross shortly after he fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. (Screenshot via Max Nesterak on X)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 is Jonathan Ross, the same officer who was dragged and injured by a fleeing driver in a separate incident last year, according to a person with knowledge of the case and verified by court documents.
Little public information is available about Ross, 43, described only by federal officials as “an experienced” officer with more than 10 years at ICE. It’s not immediately clear which field office Ross is based out of.
On Wednesday morning, Ross was embedded with a group of federal agents on a targeted crackdown in south Minneapolis when Renee Nicole Good was shot. A photo of Ross’ face has since circulated on social media, as online sleuths have attempted to identify him.
ICE declined to verify his name when reached for comment on this story.
“He acted according to his training,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told the Minnesota Star Tribune in an email, noting that this specific agent was selected for ICE’s Special Response Team, is an expert marksman and “has been serving his country his entire life.”
She claimed that agents have endured a massive surge in assaults and death threats as they conduct their duties.
“The Star Tribune should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for their reckless behavior, and they should delete their story immediately,” she said.
The Star Tribune named Ross because he is a government employee involved in a high-profile federal investigation. Under Minnesota law, the names of state and local law enforcement officers who are involved in shootings are typically considered public information and released by agencies. The state law mandating disclosure does not apply to federal agents, however, and Homeland Security officials had not said when or if they would release the agent’s name. They had, however, released several identifying details.
Five use-of-force experts interviewed by the Star Tribune questioned the agent’s decision to shoot at a moving vehicle, with some outright calling it a “bad shooting.” Others said the agent who fired may have legitimately feared for his life, but they noted that most police departments discourage shooting at a moving vehicle because deadly force is unlikely to stop the car and could jeopardize bystanders.
On June 17, Ross was participating in an arrest of Roberto Carlos Munoz-Guatemala, a Mexican citizen, in Bloomington. Munoz-Guatemala had previously been convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and had been put on a detainer by immigration officials. Munoz-Guatemala ignored the agents’ commands, including to fully roll down his car window, so Ross broke open his rear window and reached inside to unlock the door.
Munoz-Guatemala put the vehicle in drive and accelerated onto the curb, the charges said. Ross was dragged alongside the vehicle and twice fired his Taser as Munoz-Guatemala wove back and forth “in an apparent attempt to shake” him from the car. About 300 feet down the road, Munoz-Guatemala re-entered the street and the force knocked the officer from the car.
The agent required 20 stitches for a deep cut in his right arm and another 13 stitches in his left hand, according to court documents. A jury convicted Munoz-Guatemala of assaulting a federal officer in December.
Hours after the shooting Wednesday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the agent involved had “been dragged by a vehicle” in an earlier incident. At the time, she did not provide specific location details.
But she described the unnamed officer as “an experienced” agent who’d been in similar situations before and “followed his training.”
DHS confirmed Thursday that the agent who killed Good was the same officer dragged by a suspect in Bloomington last June. Although Ross was not named in the 13-page indictment of the driver, he is identified in several court records in the case, including photo exhibits from the hospital. He is also listed by name as a witness and in the jury instructions.
A law enforcement source, who is not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Ross is the shooter.
Vice President JD Vance took questions at the White House on Thursday afternoon, announcing a new associate attorney general to oversee fraud — with a mission that will begin in Minnesota.
He also defended the agent’s actions.
“That very ICE officer nearly had his life ended … six months ago,” Vance said, referring to the earlier car-dragging incident.
“You think maybe he’s a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him?”
Asked about Gov. Tim Walz’s comments that the Trump administration’s escalation of ICE agents amplified and led to the shooting, Vance dismissed his former vice presidential opponent.
“I don’t care what Tim Walz says,” Vance said.
Chris Vondracek, Jeff Day and Jeffrey Meitrodt of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.
Revealed: ICE shooter has an IMMIGRANT Filipina wife and is an Iraq veteran as father comes to his defense
By BEN ASHFORD IN MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, JOSH BOSWELL AND SARA MCGIFF
Published: 02:53 GMT, 9 January 2026 | Updated: 03:18 GMT, 9 January 2026
The ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good is unmasked for the first time by the Daily Mail – as his shaken father defends his decision to shoot dead the 37-year-old mother.
Jonathan E. Ross, 43, is an Enforcement and Removal Operations agent and Iraq veteran, who is married to a woman with Filipino parents.
He has become the focus of rage over ICE actions around the country after he shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday afternoon while she was driving her SUV down a street where ICE agents were on duty.
Ross's father defended his son's decision to shoot Good dead, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
'She hit him,' said Ed Ross, 80. 'He also had an officer whose arm was in the car. He will not be charged with anything.
'You would never find a nicer, kinder person,' the father added about his son. 'He's a committed, conservative Christian, a tremendous father, a tremendous husband. I couldn't be more proud of him.'
The elderly dad from North Perkin, Illinois, said his son's wife was a US citizen but declined to say how long she had been in the US. 'I do not want to go any further than that,' he added.
Ross – who goes by Jon – has lived on the outskirts of Minneapolis since 2015, and served as an immigration officer since at least 2013.
The ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good has been identified as Iraq veteran Jonathan Ross, 43, who is married to a woman with Filipino parents (Ross and his wife pictured)
The father of the ICE agent who shot dead a mother-of-three has defended his son in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying he is a 'tremendous' father and husband (pictured: Jonathan Ross pictured left, with Ben Ross, center, and dad Ed, right)
Ross shot and killed Good on Wednesday afternoon while she was driving her SUV down a street where ICE agents were on duty (pictured)
Though neighbors told the Daily Mail that Ross is a hardcore MAGA supporter, social media posts reveal he also has foreign-born in-laws.
His 38-year-old wife, whose doctor parents live in the Philippines, married him in August 2012 according to posts on her Instagram page.
Her first picture with Ross on the social media account was posted two months earlier.
In July 2013, when the couple lived around El Paso, Texas, Ross's wife posted a picture posing next to a US Border Patrol helicopter.
She also posted pictures of baking recipes from a Spanish-language cookbook.
One neighbor at Ross's 10-house cul-de-sac told the Daily Mail that until recently Ross had been flying pro-Trump flags and a 'Don't Tread On Me' Gadsden Flag, an emblem of the Make America Great Again movement.
On Thursday afternoon there was no sign of Ross, his wife, or the flags.
'I think he's in the military. He has a military license plate,' one neighbor said. 'He had a don't tread on me flag, and Trump/Vance stickers up during the election.
'The wife is polite, very nice, very outgoing, while he's very reserved. They have a couple of kids.'
Ross was named as the ICE agent who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis (pictured at the scene)
Good (pictured) was a poet and mother of three children who grew up in Colorado Springs. She was married to a comedian named Timothy Macklin who died in 2023 before living in Minneapolis with her wife
The ICE agent and his 38-year-old wife married in August 2012, according to posts on her Instagram page
Ross's father posted a picture on his Facebook page in 2017 of his son in military gear, carrying a large rifle
Ross' father said his son's wife (pictured) was a US citizen but declined to say how long she had been in the US
Other family members appear to have had conflict with Ross over their political views – even arguing with him about far-right group the Proud Boys, after Donald Trump caused controversy by initially failing to condemn the group in a 2020 debate with Joe Biden.
His sister Nicole posted a photo on Facebook in October 2020 of herself and a female friend wearing face masks with the caption 'I denounce and condemn white supremacy'.
Ross appears to have commented on the photo then later deleted the messages, with Nicole and her friend Allison's responses the only comments remaining.
'Jon R Oss the Proud Boys heard his denouncement loud and clear! I watched the entire debate and heard every word. I respectfully disagree,' wrote Allison.
'Jon R Oss we have to respectfully disagree,' Nicole added. 'You are my brother and I love you, but we will not engage in a debate on Facebook.'
Ross appears to have grown up hardscrabble. His father, a former insurance agent, filed for bankruptcy in Tampa, Florida in 1996, when Ross was 13.
The Ross family is religious, with his father serving as director of two church-related organizations.
Ross's father posted a picture on his Facebook page in 2017 of his son in military gear, carrying a large rifle, with a caption 'Jon Ross in Iraq'.
Ross bought his home near Minneapolis in 2015 for $460,000 with a $360,000 loan from the Veterans Administration, property records show.
Bullet holes in the car's windscreen and bloodied seats were clearly visible from the scene of the shooting in Minneapolis
Photos of the woman's car showed children's toys inside
Though he is only now being unmasked, Ross's first and last name initially emerged after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed the officer who shot dead Good was also 'dragged' by a car driven by a suspect he was apprehending last year.
The information repeated by Vice President JD Vance in a statement on Thursday.
The specific details pointed to the June arrest of undocumented immigrant and convicted sex offender Roberto Carlos Muñoz. Court documents from his federal prosecution named the injured ICE officer as 'Jonathan Ross'.
Another federal civil lawsuit from 2021 referred to Ross as being a deportation officer in Hennepin County, Minnesota, as far back as 2017.
The Trump administration has come to Ross's defense over his shooting of Good, while Democratic officials in Minneapolis say it was a murder.
ICE claimed she deliberately drove her burgundy SUV at agents but witnesses dispute the claims, with Mayor Jacob Frey calling it 'bulls**t'.
Witnesses claimed Good and her wife were acting as legal observers and filming the protest when she was shot.
But ICE insisted she tried to use the SUV as a deadly weapon.
Footage of the shooting showed the victim blocking the road with her car until ICE agents told her to move away.
Renee Good's wife has been identified as handywoman Rebecca Good (left)
Rebecca, in harrowing footage captured at in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, seemed to blame herself for the tragedy, saying she 'made [Renee] come down here' to the ICE protests
The Goods lived in a rented home (pictured) Kansas City's vibrant Waldo neighborhood for about two years but decided to flee the US after Trump's election. They spent some time in Canada before ultimately deciding to settle down in Minneapolis
Protesters clash with police after a driver of a vehicle was shot on Wednesday amid an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis
Protesters gathered outside outside Minneapolis immigration court on Thursday
She reversed to head back down the road as an agent tried to open its driver-side door handle before she drove off. Three shots then rang out.
Good lost control of the SUV and slammed it into parked cars and a light pole at high speed, prompting screams of shock from horrified onlookers.
Her SUV was seen with a bullet hole through the driver's side windshield.
Good and her wife Rebecca are understood to have fled the US after Trump's victory in the 2024 election, going briefly to Canada before settling in Minneapolis.
They have a six-year-old child together.
State and local officials demanded ICE leave Minnesota after Good's death. But Noem has said agents are not going anywhere.
