MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — A US immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday during an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violence in President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on migrants.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey adamantly rejected the Trump administration's assertion that the agent fired in self-defense, saying video of the shooting directly contradicted what he called the government's "garbage narrative".

"They're already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense," a visibly angry Frey said at a news conference. "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly — that is bullshit."

Frey blamed federal immigration agents for sowing chaos in the city, and urged residents to remain calm, as Democratic leaders in Minnesota, Washington and other states called the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation an unnecessary provocation that resulted in the tragedy.

The Minneapolis City Council identified the dead woman as Renee Nicole Good and said she was "out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government". The council also demanded that ICE officers leave the city immediately.

As night fell, a huge crowd gathered at the site of the shooting in a residential area of the city's central neighborhood, aerial TV images showed. Candles placed at the site lit up the winter night.

Earlier, some protesters were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants. Opponents of Trump called for protests in several cities, raising the risk of the killing becoming a national flashpoint over his deployment of federal officers to Democratic-led cities and states.

Authorities' account

Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told a news conference that ICE officers were responding to a vehicle stuck in the snow when they were harassed by a "mob of agitators".

One of the protesters, later identified as Good, followed agents all day, Noem said. Good blocked their vehicle and refused orders to move out of the way, she said.

"She then proceeded to weaponize her vehicle, and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over," she said, adding that the car struck the officer.

She characterized that as domestic terrorism and said the act was under investigation by the FBI. State officials said they would launch their own investigation.

Good's mother told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter was "extremely compassionate" and was not the type of person to confront ICE agents.

"She's taken care of people all her life," her mother, Donna Ganger, told the newspaper. "She was loving, forgiving and affectionate."

The police chief said Good was not a target of immigration operations. A witness whose home is nearby told CNN that Good lived in the neighborhood.

The Department of Homeland Security has said it is conducting the "largest DHS operation ever" in Minnesota with 2,000 officers deployed.

Agencies via Xinhua