A federal officer has shot a man in the leg in the US city of Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel as he tried to make an arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says.
Tensions have been running high in the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot dead a woman last week, sparking protests there which spread to other US cities.
In a statement on X, the DHS said the latest shooting happened after a car chase involving a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally.
It ended in a crash and the driver was joined by two more people who all attacked the officer, it said.
Fresh clashes broke out between protesters and law enforcement in the Hawthorne area of the city, near the scene of the incident, and city officials appealed for calm.
Local media, including the Minnesota Star Tribune, reported that protesters damaged a number of vehicles that were believed to belong to the federal government.
In a social media post on Thursday morning, US President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota officials did not act to “stop the professional agitators”.
This is a 200-year-old law which allows the president to use active-duty military personnel for law enforcement duties inside the US, and which Trump has previously said he might invoke elsewhere.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the situation in the city, where a new deployment of federal agents has arrived against the wishes of local officials, was “unsustainable”.
Tensions over immigration enforcement have been running high in the city since the fatal shooting on 7 January of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, who was standing in front of her car as she drove forwards.
ReutersThe man wounded in Wednesday’s shooting was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and an ICE officer was also taken to hospital to be treated for injuries, the DHS said.
It prompted renewed clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, the city’s police chief Brian O’Hara said, adding that his officers were hit by fireworks, ice and snowballs.
Minneapolis city officials said on X: “We understand there is anger. We ask the public to remain calm.”
“The City of Minneapolis again demands that ICE leave the city and state immediately,” they added.
The DHS statement said that after the pursuit the man got out of his car and an altercation took place between him and the federal agent.
It added: “While the subject and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
“As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the original subject got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.”
The DHS statement went on to say, “fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots”, and added that “both attackers are in custody” while the subject and agent were in hospital.
Law enforcement officials who spoke to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, gave additional details of what happened in the aftermath of the shooting.
They said the man hit by the bullet fled into a home and barricaded himself inside with three others. This resulted in additional agents being called to the residence, which was then breached with the help of a specialised ICE team, the officials said. All of those who were inside the home were believed to have been taken into custody.
The BBC could not immediately verify details in the statements. O’Hara said the FBI was investigating the incident.
Around 3,000 federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota over recent weeks.
In a statement on X responding to reports of ICE shooting the man in the leg, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Minnesota insurrection is a direct result of a FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement. It’s disgusting.”
Shortly before news of the shooting, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz urged Trump to end the “occupation” of ICE officers in the state.
“Angry is not a strong enough word,” Walz said in a video on social media.
Officials have offered differing accounts of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, with the Trump administration saying the ICE agent acted in self-defence, while local officials argue the woman posed no danger.
Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car, which is in the middle of the street.
As she attempts to drive off, one of them at the front of the vehicle points his gun at the driver and fires three shots. The FBI is also investigating that incident.
Minneapolis city leaders have said Good was at the scene as a legal observer – a volunteer who monitors law enforcement activity.
The Trump administration says she was impeding the work of federal agents and tried to kill one of them in an act of “domestic terrorism”.
An online fundraiser set up for Good’s widow and family has raised more than $1.4m. Another online fundraiser for the ICE agent at the centre of the deadly confrontation has raised $740,000.
