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By Joshua Rhett Miller
Senior Reporter
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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis previously deployed to Iraq, where he earned several service medals, Newsweek has confirmed.
Jonathan Ross, 43, served in the Indiana Army National Guard from 2002 to 2008. During that span, he deployed to Iraq from November 2004 to November 2005 with Headquarters Company, 138th Signal Battalion.
"During Ross' Iraq deployment, he earned the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal among others," an Indiana National Guard official told Newsweek in a message Friday.
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Ross, who is married and lives in suburban Minneapolis, served as a machine gunner on a truck as part of a combat patrol team while deployed in Iraq, according to courtroom testimony last month cited by the Associated Press.
In 2005, when Ross returned from Iraq, he attended college and later joined the Border Patrol in 2007 near El Paso, Texas. He then worked as a field intelligence agent while gathering and analyzing information on drug cartels and human smuggling operations.
Ross said he later worked as a deportation officer based in Minnesota after joining ICE in 2015. He testified last month that he had been most recently assigned to fugitive operations, tasked to apprehend "higher value targets" within a region that includes Minneapolis. Ross also said he was a team leader on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Associated Press reported.
"So I develop the targets, create a target package, surveillance, and then develop a plan to execute the arrest warrant,” he said.
Ross, who was dragged and injured while trying to arrest a suspect last year, testified last month that he works as a firearms instructor, an active shooter instructor, a field intelligence officer and a SWAT team member. He said he also previously attended the Border Patrol's academy in New Mexico, where he learned to speak to Spanish, the Associated Press reported.
Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Good Ross as she tried to drive away from federal agents on Wednesday. Attempts to reach him and his relatives were unsuccessful on Friday. His father, Ed Ross, declined to comment when reached by phone by Newsweek, but reportedly believes his son acted lawfully.
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"She hit him," Ed Ross told the Daily Mail. "He also had an officer whose arm was in the car. He will not be charged with anything."
Court documents reviewed Thursday by Newsweek indicate Ross had been involved in the June 17, 2025, apprehension of Roberto Carlos Munoz in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle as Munoz, a convicted sex offender originally from Guatemala, tried to flee. The ICE officer was then dragged roughly 100 yards down the street before freeing himself. He was treated at a hospital for his injuries, including cuts that required 33 stitches in all.
A jury convicted Munoz, 40, of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous and deadly weapon and causing bodily injury. He has yet to be sentenced. A message seeking comment from Munoz's Minnesota-based attorney, Eric Newmark, was not immediately returned.
A photo from a Facebook profile associated with Ross' father shows a man carrying an assault weapon, The Intercept reported Thursday.
"Jon Ross in Iraq," a caption reads.
Ross previously lived near Fort Bliss, an Army base in New Mexico, the outlet reported.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Vice President JD Vance vehemently defended Ross on Thursday, insisting he acted lawfully and "deserves a bit of gratitude" for his public service.
"This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America," Vance said. "He’s been assaulted. He’s been attacked. He’s been injured because of it."
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