The Trauma Connection: How a Previous Dragging Incident May Have Influenced the Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting

​The streets of Minneapolis have once again become a flashpoint for national debate following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. As the community mourns and investigators begin to piece together the final moments of the encounter, a critical detail has emerged from the officer’s past. Just six months earlier, the same officer was involved in a violent incident where he was dragged by a car during a high-stakes arrest.

​Experts and officials are now weighing in on how that traumatic memory might have influenced the officer’s state of mind when he pulled the trigger this past Wednesday. While the legal investigation will focus on the seconds leading up to the shooting, the psychological backdrop of "hyper-vigilance" and past trauma is becoming a central part of the conversation.

​The June Incident: A Near-Death Experience

​On June 17, 2025, Jonathan Ross, a ten-year veteran of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Special Response Team, was part of a team attempting to arrest an undocumented man in Bloomington, Minnesota. According to court records, the suspect refused to exit his vehicle or lower his windows. In an attempt to gain access, Officer Ross broke a rear window and reached inside to unlock the door.

​At that exact moment, the driver slammed the car into gear and accelerated. Ross’s arm became pinned in the window, and he was dragged for nearly 100 yards at high speed as the driver weaved back and forth to shake him off. He was eventually thrown from the car, suffering deep lacerations and abrasions that required 33 stitches. Federal officials have since used this incident to highlight the extreme dangers federal agents face daily.

​High Alert and the Psychology of "Fear for Life"

​Fast forward to January 2026. Officer Ross finds himself in a snowy South Minneapolis neighborhood, once again approaching a vehicle—this time driven by Renee Good. Federal officials claim Good was using her car to block and "weaponize" her vehicle against agents. When the car began to move, Ross opened fire, killing her.

​Psychologists and law enforcement experts suggest that an officer who has recently survived being dragged by a car will be in a state of extreme high alert when facing a similar setup. This is often referred to as "perceptual narrowing." When a person experiences a life-threatening trauma, their brain becomes "hard-wired" to recognize the smallest signs of that trauma repeating. For Ross, the sight of a vehicle moving while officers were in close proximity likely triggered an immediate, intense fear-response based on his June injuries.

​Political Fallout and Two Different Narratives

​The Trump administration and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have been quick to defend the officer. They argue that the June incident proves the officer knew exactly how deadly a fleeing vehicle could be. To them, the shooting was a defensive action by an officer who had already "clung to his life" once before. They have labeled the incident an act of self-defense against what they call "domestic terrorism."

​On the other side, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz have expressed deep skepticism. They point to video evidence that they say contradicts the "self-defense" narrative. Critics argue that if an officer is so traumatized by a previous incident that they are prone to overreacting with deadly force, they should perhaps not be on the front lines of high-tension tactical operations.

​The Problem of "Weaponizing" the Past

​There is a growing concern that the June dragging incident is being used to justify the shooting regardless of what actually happened on the ground. While the officer’s fear might have been "subjectively" real because of his past trauma, the law requires that an officer’s use of force be "objectively" reasonable. This means the court must decide if a different officer, without that specific trauma, would have seen the vehicle as a deadly threat in that exact moment.

​The fact that Ross was not wearing a body camera—due to a lack of agency policy—makes this even harder to settle. Without a clear, unbiased view of the interaction, the public is left with two competing stories: one of a veteran officer protecting himself from a repeat of a nightmare, and another of a tragic overreaction that cost a mother of three her life.

​The Ripple Effect on Minneapolis

​The shooting has sparked massive protests near the site of the encounter at 34th and Portland Avenue. For many residents, the details of the officer’s past don't excuse the outcome; they only highlight a system that they feel is out of control. The decision by the FBI to take over the investigation and block local Minnesota investigators from accessing evidence has only fueled the fire.

​Local leaders are now calling for ICE to withdraw from the city entirely. They argue that the presence of 2,000 federal agents is causing "chaos and distrust" rather than safety. As the community builds memorials for Renee Good, the question remains: how do we balance the very real safety concerns of law enforcement with the right of citizens to be safe from state-sponsored violence?

​Conclusion: A Legacy of Unresolved Trauma

​Only Jonathan Ross knows exactly what was going through his mind when he fired those shots. However, the June dragging incident serves as a powerful reminder that law enforcement officers do not operate in a vacuum. They carry their experiences, their injuries, and their fears with them every time they step out of their vehicles.

​As the FBI investigation continues, the focus will likely remain on whether the officer’s history made him a hero who acted quickly to save lives, or a man whose past trauma made him a liability in a high-pressure situation. For the family of Renee Good, the answer to that question won't bring her back, but it may determine whether anyone is held accountable for her death.