ANOTHER shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officer in Minneapolis has added to the sense of fear and anger gripping the city.

Although the male victim received only a non-fatal leg wound, Wednesday’s incident took place a week after Ice officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good in the head as she attempted to leave the scene of a raid being carried out by the federal agency.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that federal law enforcement officers had stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the US illegally. 

The man drove away and crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, the department said.

The DHS claimed that after officers reached the Venezuelan, two other people arrived from a nearby flat and all three started attacking the officer.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” the department said.

The two people who came out of the flat are in custody, it said.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.

Smoke filled the street on Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw stones and launched fireworks. 

Mr O’Hara told a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”

Things later began to quieten down at the scene and by the early hours of today, fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.

Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since Mr Ross shot Ms Good on January 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into Minneapolis and Saint Paul, which are known as the twin cities.

Agents have yanked people from cars and homes while angry bystanders demand that the officers pack up and leave.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said: “This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbours, to maintain order.” 

In a televised speech before Wednesday’s shooting, Governor Tim Walz said that what was happening in the state “defies belief.”

He added: “Let’s be very, very clear. This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. 

“Instead, it’s a campaign of organised brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”