Retired ICE agent reviews deadly Minneapolis shooting video frame-by-frame, questions tactics used

When incidents such as this happen, law enforcement officers often say these are split-second decisions. The latest policy for ICE and DHS agents, which was last updated in 2023, gives only two acceptable reasons for an officer to fire a weapon into a moving vehicle — when the driver or someone inside the vehicle has a deadly weapon, or when the vehicle itself is a threat and no other reasonable defensive option exists, including moving out of the way.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Wednesday the officers involved acted in self-defense, and that Good had "weaponized her vehicle." 

CBS News reviewed bystander video of the shooting frame-by-frame with retired ICE agent Eric Balliet to discuss the tactics used. He spent a quarter-century with federal law enforcement and was injured in a vehicular assault in 2008. 

Baillet said one of the first things that struck him in video from Wednesday's shooting was that he didn't hear the officers identifying themselves.

"I don't hear anybody (saying) like, 'Hey, police!'" Balliet said.

The agent who opened fire was part of an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations team, part of a surge of 2,000 federal agents sent to the Twin Cities area in recent days. 

Another aspect of the video Balliet commented on was the placement of the officers. Video shows three officers near the vehicle, two to the side and one directly in front of the vehicle.

"I don't understand the tactical or law enforcement advantage of someone on foot in front of a moving, running or occupied vehicle. You're almost inducing a shooting if that person decides to flee," he said.

When the car accelerates, the officer in front of the car appears to fire three shots, killing Good and sending her vehicle careening into a parked car. 

"If someone is fleeing, that is not a justification for the use of deadly force. The threshold becomes: is your life in imminent danger or is someone else's in imminent danger?" Balliet said.

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