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Woman Shot, Killed by Ice Officer in Minneapolis. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 07, 2026 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:31]

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: -- for two days now, is the result of the Trump administration really fixating on the state of Minnesota. 2,000 agents spread throughout the twin cities and up until today, up until this moment, we didn't see much flare up between those federal agents and the public. That has changed right now. As you can see, it is getting very noisy. Again, they're screaming and chanting at the Minneapolis Police Department.

Earlier today, we saw federal law enforcement on scene. It was Customs and Border Patrol, it was the U.S. Marshals. A few minutes ago, I saw FBI, who would do -- quite often does the investigating of these shootings when there are other federal agencies involved. So, we've reached out to them to find out more information about their investigation, if they are doing one, and just confirming that that is what will happen here.

And Boris and Brianna, I'll leave you with this. Again, George Floyd is not far in the rearview mirror, and this is a city that has worked really hard to try to heal after that. And one man I spoke with today said that he thinks that all this pressure from ICE, this is going to tear at the fabric of the community and tear away at what they've tried to rebuild in the aftermath of that. Back to you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right, Whitney, thank you so much for that, as you're keeping an eye on the ground there.

Let's go now to retired Minneapolis Police Chief, Medaria Arradondo, who is with us. Chief, just as you are, and I know you're not too far from where Whitney is, but if you can just speak to what we are learning at this point, what DHS is saying about what happened and what the community concerns are and what your concerns are as you are watching this play out.

MEDARIA ARRADONDO, RETIRED MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF: Yeah, Brianna, Boris, so obviously, as your reporters have seen on the ground here right now, the situation obviously is very tense. We're still getting more information. Obviously, Senator Kenneth Smith is now letting everyone know that the individual shot was, in fact, a U.S. citizen. I think the main thing right now, Brianna and Boris, is that communication has to happen. I know that has not been part of the protocol for ICE since they've been in these cities and certainly in Minneapolis, but my hope, Brianna and Boris, is that ICE officials are at least being transparent with Minneapolis Police Chief, O'Hara, Mayor Jacob Frey, and others, Governor Walz, to just make sure that as they continue this officer-involved shooting, that they're able to at least share important pertinent information with Minneapolis officials, state officials. The community is going to need that transparency. It's so desperately needed right now.

As Governor Walz mentioned, we need peace right now, but the longer -- and I, someone who's dealt with crisis before, time is not your friend. And so, the faster that they can get out information to city, local, and state officials, as well as that information gets relayed to the community, that's going to be incredibly important in the hours that move ahead here.

Right now, Brianna, to your question about the investigation, obviously it's in the beginning hours, and so as the FBI and other federal agents are working the team there, you can see Minneapolis police officers out there sort of taking care of the perimeter. It's going to be important, but tensions are high, and it is my hope that through that transparent communication, it will keep things calm, Brianna and Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And we should be hearing from officials momentarily. This press briefing was set to start at about 1:15 Eastern, so 12:15 local time. We are awaiting word from officials to get some of that transparency that you were describing, Chief. I wonder generally, what your reaction has been to this influx of immigration agents into your community, and whether you think that so far they have maintained the kind of transparency, the kind of communication that you would have aspired to. It seems like you have found them wanting.

ARRADONDO: You know, Boris, that's a great question. I will tell you that when these operations in working with our federal partners work best for our communities, it's when there's collaboration. It's when there's shared communication. It's when there's a specific target or focus. If it's violent crime, if it's narcotics, whatever it is, if it's collaboration, communication, and there's shared transparency with the communities, that's those operations and missions that work the best.

That has not unfortunately, Boris and Brianna, been the case here in Minneapolis. It is my hope, you know, this is a tragedy. And so, it is my hope that moving forward, that communication can take place. So, I'm looking forward to hearing that press conference, Boris, as you mentioned, coming up, hearing from officials. But there absolutely needs to be a liaison in terms of communication with our federal partners as this officer-involved shooting oppresses communities desperately going to need that.

[13:35:00]

And that's what I'll be waiting to see here on the ground in Minneapolis and (inaudible) in a couple of minutes (ph).

KEILAR: Chief, do stay with us. I have another question for you, but I do just want to let our viewers know what we are waiting for here, which is a press conference that is set to begin here soon in Minneapolis.

A woman dead there after a shooting involving immigration officers. DHS saying that violent rioters weaponized a vehicle, but there was a lot of anger there in that community and a lot of people doubting that that is what happened. So, we are going to see what local and state officials have to say for that.

But Chief, back to you again. You're not far from where George Floyd was killed. And actually, if you can stay with us, standby Chief, let's listen in here to Mayor Jacob Frey.

MAYOR JACOB FREY, (D) MINNEAPOLIS: There's a lot of information that is swirling around right now. And we collectively are going to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this, to get justice, and to make sure that there is an investigation that is conducted in full. But what we do know is that a 37-year-old woman is dead and that she was shot by ICE.

We've dreaded this moment since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis. Not only is this a concern that we've had internally, we've been talking about it. They are not here to cost safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They're ripping families apart.

They're sowing chaos on our streets and in this case, quite literally, killing people. So they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.

As soon as it happened and we learned of the incident, we had several priorities. The first, of course, was to get the victim to the hospital and to get care as soon as possible. To the family, I'm so deeply sorry. There's nothing that I can say right now that's going to make you or your relatives, friends of the victim feel any better.

There were, I believe, two Minneapolis police officers that responded and were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The second was to get ICE off of the scene. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of ICE and federal officers that were there at the time.

Having them there was only causing more chaos. Having them there was only making a difficult situation even more problematic and one that, yes, they created themselves. There's little I can say, again, that will make this situation better.

But I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for ICE. To ICE, get the [expletive] out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart.

Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy are being terrorized, and now, somebody is dead. That's on you. And it's also on you to leave. It's on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury is not done. We're going to be working towards justice as quickly as we possibly can right now, and justice is what we've all got to get.

Next, a message to our community. Look, we all know that the agenda of this Trump administration is to create chaos. Let us respond, right now, with our best versions of self.

[13:40:00]

This is a moment where all of us in Minneapolis and beyond, we can rise to the occasion. We can show them who we are. We can show them the kind of courage, bravery, love, and compassion that makes Minneapolis Minneapolis and that makes America America. We are better than a bunch of ICE agents being deployed to cities around the country and ripping apart families and communities. We're better than that.

And so, we are going to meet that hate with love. We are going to meet that despair with hope. We are going to meet that injustice with constitutional justice ourselves, and we're going to make sure that in this very difficult moment, we do not take the bait that these ICE agents are trying to create and that the federal government, to be clear, wants.

They want us to respond in a way that creates a military occupation in our city. They want an excuse to come in and show the kind of force that will create more chaos and more despair. Let's not let them.

Let's rise to this occasion. Let's show them something far more beautiful than the kind of division that they're trying to stoke. Let's show them unity of purpose, of love, and the courage of our conviction.

Our conviction, to be clear, is rock solid, and it is for our neighbors, all of our neighbors. It's for people who have lived here for 80 years. It is for new immigrants who have made this city a better place. That's the kind of love that we're going to show up with right now. If you're angry, I get it. I am too.

If you're feeling that kind of despair, it's understandable. Let's show them who we can be. Let's show up with peace, to march, to protest, to hug one another, to love all the way with peace. Do not give them what they want.

Finally, we've got a lot of work that needs to happen right now to make sure that first, of course, the scene was secured as much as possible, that we were able to get the victim, now deceased, to the hospital. We've got a lot of work to do in the coming days.

I want to thank our city enterprise for the work that they have done, but more importantly, what they're about to do, because this is going to be heavy, and our city has been through a lot. We also know that we're prepared to do right for people. Among them is our chief of police, and I'll invite him up.

BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF: My name is Brian O'Hara, B-R- I-A-N O'H-A-R-A. I am the Minneapolis Police Chief. This morning, Minneapolis police officers received a report of federal law enforcement being involved in a deadly force incident, meaning shots had been fired. Minneapolis police officers responded to the scene. We arrived and found a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. Life- saving measures were performed at the scene, including CPR.

The woman was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she has since been pronounced deceased. The preliminary information that we have indicates that this woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue, midway between 33rd Street and 34th Street in the city.

At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off. At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway. Minneapolis police officers secured the crime scene and assisted in trying to preserve the evidence that is there.

We have since turned over the scene both to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which will be conducting an investigation into this use of deadly force.

I want to thank the mayor, city council president, other members of the city council, state legislators that were on the scene. This has been a very difficult time for everyone in the city, and this is obviously a very, very tragic situation where a woman has lost her life.

[13:45:00]

That being said, in addition to this tragedy, which unfortunately we did predict, we were seriously concerned about further escalation from the scene. I want to thank the elected officials that came themselves to help us prevent that from happening, as well as the individuals on that scene that remained peaceful and that abided by law enforcement instructions, so that we could preserve that scene and ensure that a full and transparent investigation can take place.

That being said, I just echo the mayor's comments that we ask that the community continue to call for peace. We understand people are going to be upset about what happened and people are going to want to exercise their First Amendment rights, but please do so safely and lawfully to ensure that we do not have any further tragedy in this city, or destruction. Thank you.

FREY: Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Sheriff. Thank you, council members. I'll open it to questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any idea on the identity of the ICE officer who fired at (inaudible)? FREY: I don't have that information, no. The question was, is there an identity of the ICE officer that fired? I do not have that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, I learned that ICE officers stopped a physician from helping the lady who was shot. Is that true? We've seen videos all over social media that someone tried to help this woman, and they were told -- they were pointed guns at and told to get away. Do you know about that at all?

FREY: So the question was, there's information out there that people tried to help the woman that was shot and ICE officers then pointed guns at them and told them to leave. I do not have that information. I myself saw a video of the shots being fired as the car was driving away. What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative. That is not true.

It has no truth. And it needs to be stated very clearly, since we have already seen a video of it. I do not know as to what you're talking about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So Mayor, she wasn't driving the car toward him using her vehicle as a weapon?

FREY: That does not appear to be the case at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the city's protocol when an observer or an activist calls 9-1-1? (Inaudible) How does the City of Minneapolis handle that situation? (Inaudible).

FREY: Repeat it one more time. I forgot that -- I missed the first part of what you said. I'll turn it over to the Chief, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does the City do if someone calls 9-1-1 in a federal agent (inaudible)?

FREY: Oh, I see. Yeah. I'll turn it over to the Chief. The question is, what does someone do when a federal agent is pointing a gun at them? Chief.

O'HARA: So, if I heard you correctly, the question is about when people call 9-1-1, what is the city's protocol in these situations?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

O'HARA: We've had a very dramatic increase in 9-1-1 calls related to this activity. We have a protocol in place that has been evolving as the situation has been changing. And at this time, there is a designated supervisor that is on duty 24/7 that fields those calls. And we do everything that we can to ensure that they are appropriately prioritized with the priority being placed upon the protection of life and safety of everyone in the community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us any more about the woman who was fatally shot? Was she there as a legal observer, a protester, a bystander? What do you know that you can share? O'HARA: So the question was, what can I share about the deceased? There is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity. This woman was in her car, and it appears then blocking the street, because of the presence of federal law enforcement, which is obviously something that has been happening not just in Minneapolis, but around the country. She appears to be a middle-aged white woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief, just about a month ago, you said these unplanned and questionable tactics by federal agents would result in someone being killed, at a press conference right here. Do you consider today's tactics in line with that, or do you just have a generic response to the fact that somebody was found dead?

O'HARA: The question is that I had previously made several statements about being concerned about the tactics being employed.

[13:50:00]

I am obviously very concerned that I have been told that a woman who was sitting in her car blocking the street and not the target of any enforcement activity is now deceased. However, I do not know -- to be clear, I do not know the exact circumstances of the shooting. But I would tell you, in any professional law enforcement agency in the country, I think they would tell you it's obviously very concerning whenever there's a shooting into a vehicle of someone who's not armed.

But it also is something that is possible. At times, it is justified. But it is very concerning, and it's something that most law enforcement agencies in the country train very intensely to try and minimize the risk that law enforcement officers get placed into a situation that the need for deadly force would be necessary.

I didn't hear the question, I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible)

O'HARA: The question was, any indication about the need? I guess, getting back to the justification of this, I have not seen any information other than what I have communicated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, was she alone in the car?

O'HARA: The question was if she was alone in the car. I know that I got there shortly after this call came in. I did not see anyone else with her while I was on the scene. However, I've since been told by our officers that have been with her the entire time, that a spouse has arrived at the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor, I'm just curious if you're thinking about contacting federal authorities to register your concerns about this, personally making phone calls, et cetera?

FREY: Yes, we've been on the phone all morning. As soon as we learned about this, again, there were a series of priorities that we needed to go through. The first, of course, is to keep people safe and to help the victim in any way that we could. The second was to get ICE off of the scene.

There was the notion that ICE agents would be necessary to create a perimeter around the scene itself. They themselves were creating the kind of dysfunction and chaos that they claimed to be trying to help with. And so, the message that we delivered very clearly was to make them leave.

Now, beyond leaving the scene, they should also leave our city and our state. You know, we do work. Our chief does work. Our sheriff does work every single day to keep people safe in our city and in our state, and crime is dramatically down. Crime is down. It continues to trend down.

They are doing the hard work of investigating, of arresting perpetrators of violent crime. What this federal administration is doing right now is not about creating safety. Do not let them tell you that what they are doing is about creating safety. It is not. It is having the opposite impact.

We need to be clear-eyed about the work that is moving forward, and they need to leave Minneapolis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have time for one or two more questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor, you may know this with your legal background, if a shooting is found to not be justified, does the city have any legal -- or the state rather have any legal recourse to bring charges against this ICE agent, given that this person is a federal agent?

FREY: Obviously, and I have to always lead with this caveat because it is true, an investigation still does need to be conducted. I had my perception of what took place based on the vehicle and the vehicle's positioning. It does not appear that the individual is trying to ram anybody.

Now, the question was, if it is in fact found to be an unjustified shooting, who issues the charge, who prosecutes, how does justice take place? I do not know the answer in full to that. This is obviously information that we are still working out. Chief, do you have any additional information, or Commissioner?

O'HARA: The only thing I would add to the mayor's statement is that the crime scene was held by the Minneapolis Police Department and the investigation is now being led jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. And the purpose of their involvement would be to investigate whether any state laws within the state of Minnesota have been violated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I just add something to that too? What's very important is that for our communities, that we do have some kind of part in this investigation. It needs to be done on a local level. With all due respect to the federal level, we do need to make sure that our local agencies are involved.

[13:55:00]

Well, certainly the BCA is very well capable of working with our federal partners and doing so. That is something that is needed for our communities, and so that's something that I can tell you that there's already been a conversation from the U.S. Attorney's Office to the BCA that have already taken place today.

How that's going to roll out, we don't know yet, but we are making sure that there is some kind of local entity, namely the BCA, that has a part in this investigation for the purposes of transparency and expedient transparency as to what happened today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more. OK, that's it. Thank you, everybody.

FREY: So final -- again, thank you. Thank you, everybody, for coming. Thank you to the media for being here and disseminating this very important information around this tragic incident. To reiterate, a final message to our community members, I understand the anger. Let's unite around hope and love and peace and getting justice. That's what we need to be doing right now. I appreciate the service from everybody up here as well as the 435,000 people that call Minneapolis home. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got some housekeeping for you in just a moment after a minute.

SANCHEZ: Get the F out of Minneapolis. That the message from Mayor Jacob Frey to ICE and to federal agents who have now inundated that city as part of President Trump's immigration crackdown. The mayor there saying that accusations by DHS that a 37-year-old woman who was killed after an ICE agent opened fire, allegedly in self-defense, is bullshit.

His word, saying that he watched a video of the incident, that he believes that woman was unarmed and was not attempting to run over or harm officers in that area. He went on to say that we've dreaded this moment since ICE arrived.

He's called on his residents to maintain calm in order to not give the Trump administration what he says they want. He says they want to form a military occupation of that city.

KEILAR: Yeah, and the police chief talking about having seen video of what happened. And we have to tell you, we have not seen the video at this point in time. We at this point are going through a number of videos to make sure that what we bring you has been verified. Let's listen to part of what the police chief says about what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'HARA: Preliminary information that we have indicates that this woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue, midway between 33rd Street and 34th Street in the city. At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off. At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway. Minneapolis police officers secured the crime scene and assisted in trying to preserve the evidence that is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now we heard from officials, we heard from the chief that she was driving away. And this is key because what we heard from DHS, they're saying something very different --

SANCHEZ: Right.

KEILAR: -- in their official statement, which is that violent rioters weaponized a vehicle and attempted to run over officers. That is an incredibly different characterization than what is being said by the police chief of Minneapolis who, by the way, also said it is justified at times to shoot at a vehicle. He said, but it is very concerning and most law enforcement agencies in the country train very intensely to minimize the risk.

He is saying that she began to drive off and that is when shots were fired. So as this DHS statement is saying these are defensive shots, we are seeing two very, very different narratives.

SANCHEZ: And clearly, narratives that are incensing the local leaders in Minneapolis, namely the Mayor Jacob Frey. Here's some of what he said about ICE as he's calling for federal agents to leave his city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREY: So, they are already trying to spin this as an action of self- defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We have a number of voices with us, as well as a reporter on the ground in Minneapolis. Let's start with former ICE Acting Director, John Sandweg, who is with us.

John, I just wonder what you make of all of this.

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR: You know, Boris, very troubling. I think my immediate concern is this. To what extent has this rushing of hiring people, this shortcutting on our training, to what extent might that have informed (ph) what happened here? To be fair, I don't know the facts yet. I saw the press conference. I heard that the chief appears to have serious concerns --