A rosary adorns a framed photo Alex Pretti that was left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Monday.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images
Two officers fired their guns during the fatal encounter with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend, according to an initial report to Congress from the Department of Homeland Security reviewed by CNN.
The report – from Customs and Border Protection’s initial investigation into the shooting of Pretti – says an officer yelled, “He’s got a gun” multiple times before two officers fired as agents struggled with him on the ground.
“CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued,” the report says. “During the struggle, a (Border Patrol agent) yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times.”
The report continues: “Approximately five seconds later, a (Border Patrol agent) discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a (Customs and Border Protection officer) also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”
On the chilly morning of January 24, 2026, Minneapolis — already reeling from the recent fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. immigration agent — again became the scene of tragedy when 37‑year‑old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed during a federal immigration enforcement operation.
Pretti, a dedicated intensive care nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, had no criminal record and was known to friends, colleagues, and patients as a compassionate caregiver committed to helping veterans. On that Saturday morning, federal agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Border Patrol were deployed as part of a larger operation in Minneapolis that had already sparked protests and high tensions across the city.
According to a preliminary report submitted to Congress by CBP, agents encountered a group of demonstrators blocking a street. After issuing repeated verbal orders for people to move onto the sidewalk, officers reported that they used pepper spray when a woman and Pretti refused to comply. A physical struggle followed, and at one point a Border Patrol agent is quoted in the report as shouting, “He’s got a gun!” before two federal officers fired their weapons.
That official account, shared in statements to Congress and through DHS briefings, described Pretti and the woman as resisting arrest and suggested that Pretti had drawn a weapon during the confrontation — a narrative repeated by some national officials in the days after the shooting.
But from the very beginning, that version has been the subject of sharp contradiction and controversy:
Video evidence captured by bystanders appears to show Pretti holding a phone — not a weapon — shortly before he was pepper‑sprayed and pinned to the ground.
A CBP internal review to Congress notes that the agent yelled that Pretti had a gun, but does not describe Pretti brandishing a firearm before shots were fired; body camera footage suggests the gun remained holstered until after the shooting.
Minneapolis police and local officials have publicly stated that they have seen no evidence that Pretti brandished a weapon, even though he was a legal gun owner with a permit under Minnesota law.
Multiple news outlets and witnesses pointed out discrepancies between the DHS portrayal and video or eyewitness accounts, deepening public doubts.
In the hours and days following the shooting, federal authorities confirmed that two officers discharged their weapons, with at least a dozen shots fired. Pretti was struck and later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
As for the autopsy and forensic details, there has been no publicly released medical examiner’s report with a confirmed cause of death as of now. Local and federal officials have indicated that an autopsy is underway and could take months to complete, and under Minnesota law those findings typically are not released to the public.
This uncertainty has fueled misinformation and conflicting social media claims about the cause of Pretti’s death — including rumors online about the autopsy showing he died from something other than gunshot wounds. Such claims are not supported by verified medical examiner releases or reputable news reporting at this time; established coverage continues to report that Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents, and precise autopsy details remain unreleased.
The aftermath of the shooting has been marked by political outrage, legal questions, and community grief:
Pretti’s family and local leaders have rejected characterizations that he was a threat to officers, arguing he was acting peacefully and that federal narratives are misleading.
Public protests and calls for accountability have intensified, tying the case to broader criticism of federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and beyond.
Lawsuits and legal action have followed, including court orders aimed at preserving evidence and probing access to body camera footage.
The incident has also drawn national political debate about law enforcement use of force, transparency, and the expansion of federal roles in local communities.
In the end, while federal reports confirm that two officers fired their weapons during the encounter that ended Alex Pretti’s life, verified medical and forensic details — including a fully released autopsy — are not yet publicly available. What is clear is that the event has become a flashpoint in ongoing national discourse over federal policing, civil liberties, and how law enforcement interactions with citizens are portrayed and investigated.
If you’d like, I can expand this story further with personal perspectives — such as testimony from Pretti’s family or colleagues — or focus on how this incident has affected the Minneapolis community and national debate.
