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Minneapolis Schools Shut Down for 2 Days in Wake of ICE Clashes, Fatal Shooting

After a 37-year-old woman was shot dead, armed Border Patrol agents swarmed a high school, reportedly cuffing and tear gassing students and staff.

By Jo Napolitano & Beth Hawkins | January 8, 2026
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a person near Roosevelt High School during dismissal time as federal immigration enforcement actions sparked protests in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. (Getty Images)

Updated January 8, 2026

Minneapolis Public Schools are shut down for the remainder of the week after armed Border Patrol agents clashed with students and staff at a local high school Wednesday, just hours after an immigration officer fatally shot a 37-year-old mother of three in her car.

The closure of an entire city school district is an unprecedented response to the Trump administration鈥檚 ongoing immigration dragnet, one that has disrupted schools and sparked fear in students, families and educators across the country. The district announced to staff Thursday evening it will offer temporary online learning starting next week and continuing through Feb. 12.

Gov. Tim Walz, a former schoolteacher, said he thought Minneapolis Public Schools made 鈥渁bsolutely what was the right decision鈥 to close and condemned federal agents鈥 presence at Roosevelt High School and other campuses. 

U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a person near Roosevelt High School on Jan. 7. (Getty Images)

鈥淚 can鈥檛 say this strongly enough as a governor, as a parent, as a teacher, to our elected representatives, Democrats and Republicans, I beg you, I implore you to tell them to stay out of our schools,鈥 Walz said at a press conference Thursday. 鈥淭ragedy will be magnified a hundredfold if this fight moves into the hallways of our public schools, amongst our youth. They are watching us, they are watching us now how we respond.鈥 

Josie Bures, 17 and a senior at Roosevelt, attended a protest at ICE headquarters for three hours early Thursday morning and planned to stop by another in the late evening. She鈥檚 not worried about herself, she said, but about the immigrants in her community.

鈥淭hose are our neighbors, our friends, my classmates and our teachers,鈥 Bures said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a very weird feeling to watch your teacher be tackled to the ground by ICE agents.鈥

The White House flooded Minneapolis this week , just days before Renee Nicole Good, 37, a writer who had just dropped off encountered a group of them on a snowy street and was shot in the head when she attempted to drive away.

The Department of Homeland Security and local witnesses and video have offered starkly different accounts of the actions preceding Good鈥檚 death and those at Roosevelt High School, where local news reports say students and staff .

A DHS spokesperson denied the use of tear gas and told 社区黑料 on Thursday that agents were conducting immigration enforcement in the area when a U.S. citizen rammed his car into a government vehicle. While the man was being removed, DHS contended, 鈥渁n individual who identified himself as a teacher proceeded to assault a border patrol agent.鈥 

A crowd gathered and 鈥渞ioters鈥 threw objects and paint at the officers and their vehicles, DHS said, adding, 鈥渁gents would not have been near this location if not for the dangerous actions鈥 of the driver. 

The district issued a statement Thursday saying, 鈥淢inneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is aware of an incident that happened after school yesterday outside of Roosevelt High School. This incident involved federal law enforcement agents and is currently under investigation. We are working with our partners including the City of Minneapolis and others to support the individuals directly impacted.鈥

The statement went on to note its commitment 鈥渢o maintaining a safe and welcoming learning environment for all of our students.鈥 Recent events have deeply undermined that effort, parents and students told 社区黑料. 

Shawna Hedlund, whose son is a freshman at Roosevelt, said he left campus just before federal agents arrived, but was already 鈥渟tricken by what he had heard about the shooting.鈥

That feeling worsened when her son and other students she spoke with learned that ICE then showed up at their school and chaos broke out.

鈥淭hey went from dismayed to shocked,鈥 she said.

Hedlund, who works in student health, said she understands the necessity for the school closure but laments that children will be by themselves.

鈥淲e learned during the pandemic that isolation is hard on our kids’ mental health,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like thinking about all of the kids who are feeling alone today. And at the same time, it was not safe.”

Bures, the Roosevelt senior, said she鈥檚 not sure if she鈥檒l be ready to pay attention in class when school resumes Monday, but there is no alternative.

鈥淣o one knows how long this will last or how persistent ICE will be,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y friend鈥檚 mom works at a St. Paul school. ICE comes there every day in the morning and when school lets out in the afternoon. As soon as school starts up, will ICE be there again?鈥

Muslim faith leader Abdulahi Farah said parents were already afraid to drop off and pick up their children at school. 

鈥淭he parents of high schoolers are the most scared,鈥 Farah said. 鈥淭he seniors and juniors, they are tall: They look like grown people 鈥 and they are driving. I have had a lot of moms share with me how they took away their kids鈥 car keys. Young people want to go play basketball, but parents are trying to make sure these young boys and girls are safe.鈥

Parents of older kids, fear, too, they could unintentionally escalate interaction with federal agents, he said. 

鈥淵oung people don鈥檛 use the best judgment,鈥 Farah said. 鈥淭eenagers might run away from ICE agents 鈥 and ICE agents might shoot them.鈥 

Good was killed while driving away from agents who had come up to her vehicle, including one who tried to yank her driver鈥檚 side door open, according from the scene. DHS maintains that Good tried to run down one of their agents, who defended himself.

Mourners quickly assembled at the site of Renee Nicole Good’s shooting. (Courtesy Minneapolis parent Mike Spangenberg)

Numerous Twin Cities district and charter schools told families Wednesday that they should consider keeping their children home, according to a suburban Minneapolis school board member who asked not to be identified because she has loved ones at risk of deportation.

She said more than a third of district students were absent Wednesday, and that large numbers are not expected to return 鈥 particularly in neighborhoods targeted by federal agents.    

Like Roosevelt High School, the schools where ICE and the Border Patrol have been spotted have dual-language programs, heavy concentrations of Latino students and immigrant staff. Many are communicating with families directly instead of posting logistics on social networks, parents and administrators said. 

Several charter schools catering to immigrant populations are also closed. Located about a mile from Good鈥檚 shooting, El Colegio High School said it will notify families when it reopens. The three-school Hiawatha Academies network is also shuttered. 

Area superintendents were meeting Thursday to discuss the complicated state laws that govern absences. Because Minnesota reimburses schools for daily attendance, it has a law requiring them to disenroll students who aren’t present for 15 or more days. Administrators are likely to ask for a temporary exception. 

In Minneapolis, most high schoolers use public transit at district expense. Before it closed, Hiawatha began providing dedicated yellow buses for any student afraid to ride the public buses because ICE agents might board them. 

St. Paul Public Schools remains open but has instructed students to stay on school buses if they feel unsafe getting off. Drivers have been told how to make alternate arrangements to drive students home, the district said.  

A multilingual learner teacher in a southern Minneapolis suburb said her school, which serves a large portion of Spanish-speaking students, was in session Thursday but the mood was somber. She asked not to be identified to avoid drawing ICE’s attention.

In addition to the violence that unfolded Wednesday, one student’s father was detained Tuesday, she said.

鈥淚 started my class with quiet meditation and affirmations such as, 鈥業 belong here. I鈥檓 strong even when things feel scary. My family鈥檚 story matters. I鈥檓 allowed to feel happy even during hard times. I can focus on what I can control,鈥欌 she said.  

Anxiety is high, too, for parents of very young children whose local day care centers have come under intense scrutiny in the wake of recent allegations of fraud. The Trump administration cited those charges among its reasons for sending federal agents into Minneapolis with such force. 

鈥淲e have grown men showing up there with cameras,鈥 Farah said, referring to social media influencers attracted by . 鈥淪o some of the parents are not taking the kids to day care.鈥

And, he said, bullying is on the rise in schools, especially against the Somali community, another target of the president. Many of its members fled their homeland to escape government brutality, he said. 

鈥淭hey have seen things like this before. 鈥 Things you thought would never happen here are happening here.鈥 he said. 鈥淚t has been overwhelming.鈥

Earlier this week, organizing on private channels, parents arranged patrols during dismissal times outside schools with programs catering to immigrants. Individual school parent groups also dropped off groceries and other supplies at students鈥 homes and solicited donations for families where adults or teens have been unable to work.

A portrait of Renee Nicole Good is pasted to a light pole near the site of the shooting on Jan. 8. (Getty Images)

Within a couple of hours of Good’s death, the education community swung into action. Mattie Weiss, a former policy advocate at Educators for Excellence, created a GoFundMe for Good鈥檚 loved ones that as of Thursday night had collected $1.2 million from 31,100 donors, far surpassing its $50,000 goal.

Adam Strom, co-founder and executive director of Re-Imagining Migration, said that what happened in Minneapolis this week is being felt nationwide. 

鈥淭his is the result of policies transforming schools into sites of fear,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s horrible as that scene was, the impact ripples far beyond Minneapolis. Families across the country, after witnessing this, are sure that this could happen here, too. The question we all must face is what we’re going to do to keep our students safe.鈥 

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