Mother of 3 who loved to sing and write poetry shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis

By Amanda Musa, CNN

(CNN) — The woman shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis was a loving mother, a poet and a partner whose family – along with neighbors across her stunned city and strangers far beyond – is shocked by the circumstances surrounding her death.

Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was killed when an ICE agent shot into her vehicle during an encounter Wednesday morning.

Good’s ex-husband said she had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school when she encountered the ICE agents, The Associated Press reported.

The victim tried to “weaponize her vehicle” to run over an officer near an ICE vehicle stuck on a snow-lined street before he opened fire, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

State and local officials have strongly disputed claims the shooting, captured on video, was done in self-defense as tensions exploded amid this week’s deployment of some 2,000 federal agents as part of the latest surge in the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown and following claims of welfare fraud in the Somali immigrant community.

Still, loved ones and leaders paused to remember the newcomer to Minnesota as “an amazing human being.”

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She was extremely compassionate,” her mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “She’s taken care of people all her life … She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.”

Good ‘had a good life but a hard life’

Born in Colorado, Good moved to Minnesota last year and lived in the Twin Cities with her partner, the Star Tribune reported, citing Ganger.

A mother of three, Good had two children, ages 15 and 12, from her first marriage, The Associated Press reported. Her 6-year-old child’s father died in 2023, according to the Star Tribune. “There’s nobody else in his life,” the child’s grandfather told the newspaper.

After spending most of her life in Colorado, Good briefly moved to Kansas to live with her parents for a time after her husband – a military veteran – died, her father, Tim Ganger, told The Washington Post.

“She had a good life, but a hard life,” he said. “She was a wonderful person.”

Good’s death hit her family especially hard because it was her older sister’s birthday, her uncle, Robert Ganger, told CNN affiliate KMGH.

CNN has reached out to Good’s family.

‘A very welcomed member of the community’

Good’s southside Minneapolis home still had holiday decorations on the front porch and in the window Thursday afternoon. Signs of support for Good could be seen in windows around the neighborhood, where she and her family had settled relatively recently, neighbors said.

Good had a “really sweet family,” one neighbor told CNN, recalling how Good’s son would sometimes ask to pet their dog.

A few houses down, another neighbor, Clark Hoelscher told CNN, “We saw her kids’ sidewalk drawings during the summer.”

Hoelscher did not know the family personally but would see them in the neighborhood from time to time.

As Hoelscher spoke about Good, a tear streamed down their face. “I’m a parent, I’ve helped raise five children. I have two kiddos that are my own.”

“I can’t imagine that they came home and their mom isn’t gonna be there anymore,” Hoelscher explained.

Hoelscher, who is also a teacher, said ICE’s presence in Minneapolis was already having an effect before Wednesday’s shooting.

“We have students and families who are scared to be at school,” Hoelscher said. “It’s really hard when I have a student who misses school, I’m just scared about what’s happened to them or their family members,” they added.

Another community member stood in front of Good’s house for much of the day Thursday, greeting anyone who tried to knock on the door and relaying that Good’s family would release a statement at the appropriate time.

“She was a very welcomed member of the community,” neighbor Kimmy Hull said of Good, whose home is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020.

Hull said she isn’t surprised by the groundswell of organizing efforts and support in the community.

“What happened with (George) Floyd, there’s a lot of hard things that came out of it. But there’s a lot of really good things. One of the best things was it taught a lot of people how to work together. How to come together,” Hull said.

A devoted mom and Christian who loved to sing

A former neighbor in Kansas called Good and her family “lovely,” CNN affiliates KCTV and KMBC reported.

She is “a neighbor who, you know, is not a terrorist. Not an extremist,” Joan Rose told KMBC. “That was just a mom who loved her kids, loved her spouse.”

On her social media accounts, Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom,” according to the AP. She recently said she was “experiencing Minneapolis,” posting a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account.

A Pinterest account with her name features photos of Good smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with saved posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.

Good also was a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger, her ex-husband told the AP. She also loved to sing and participated in a chorus in high school before studying vocal performance in college, he said.

Good attended Old Dominion University in Virginia, graduating in 2020 with an English degree, the school said in a statement.

During her time at Old Dominion, Good took advanced courses on creative writing and the craft of fiction, according to one of her professors, Kent Wascom.

Good excelled in her studies, Wascom told CNN, even though she was pregnant and working at the same time.

“A lot of times, young writers write about themselves,” Wascom said. But Good wrote about others.

“She wrote about elderly people, and about people in and from other places, and in circumstances that were unlike her own,” Wascom added.

In 2020, Good’s poetry was awarded ODU’s American Academy of Poets Prize, Wascom said. A Facebook post from the school says Good hosted a podcast with her late second husband, Tim Macklin.

“May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love, and peace. My hope is for compassion, healing, and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history,” Old Dominion President Brian O. Hemphill said in the statement.

Shooting scene becomes site of vigil

Hours after the shooting, throngs of neighbors gathered at a vigil near the scene to remember Good and express their outrage at her killing. The group surrounded a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles and, at one point, chanted Good’s name.

“Say it once. Say it twice. We will not put up with ICE,” they also chanted. Some carried signs with messages such as: “Killer ICE off our streets.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, urged residents to remain calm in the wake of “chaos” in the city.

“This is a moment where all of us in Minneapolis and beyond, we can rise to the occasion,” Frey said. “We can show them who we are. We can show them the kind of courage, bravery, love and compassion that makes Minneapolis and that makes America.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also a Democrat, offered condolences to Good’s family and vowed his administration “is going to stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice.”

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CNN’s Omar Jimenez, Sarah Boxer, Lauren Mascarenhas, Taylor Galgano, Ray Sanchez, Amanda Jackson and Brian Todd contributed to this report.