Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus president analyzes fatal shooting of Alex Pretti
There are several angles of the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti online.
Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who was killed in Minneapolis on Saturday, had a permit to carry. WCCO talked with Rob Doar, a firearms instructor and president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, about the incident.
"It's incredibly disheartening that this misinformation is coming out," Doar said.
Over the weekend, Kash Patel, director of the FBI, said, "As Kristi [Noem] said, you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want."
Doar said that comment is not true.
"If you have a permit to carry, you have a right to carry it anywhere you're lawfully allowed to be. That includes public spaces and includes protests," Doar said.
In a cell phone video, Pretti is seen being sprayed with a chemical irritant and dragged to the ground.
You can hear in the video someone yelling, 'Gun,' possibly alerting agents that Pretti was carrying. Sources tell WCCO that law enforcement is trained in disarming a person. Doar says what he saw is different from his training.
"You want to control their hands and then make sure that you can go and disarm the person. So commands may vary, but the general tactic is you gain control and then you disarm," he said.
While on the ground, video shows an officer coming out of the struggle holding a gun, which looks like the picture of the gun released by the Department of Homeland Security. In slowed down video, sources say it shows an agent in possession of Pretti's gun. That's when they believe it goes off.
"It's absolutely clear that prior to the shots, Alex Pretti was disarmed. I believe that that gunshot came from Alex Pretti's firearm from the agent that was carrying it away. After that, that first gunshot, there's a brief pause, and then that's when Alex Pretti himself is shot," Doar said.
Sources back what Doar is saying, telling WCCO the response from other agents appears reactionary.
About 10 shots were fired by law enforcement.
"This is just speculation on my part. I think that the agents heard a gunshot, and in the confusion, may have assumed that that came from Alex Pretti himself, and then used deadly force against him. That's going to require a lot more analysis and information to come to any sort of conclusion," Doar said.
Some of what WCCO is still asking DHS:
- Did the agent communicate he had Pretti's gun?
- What is protocol and should that be communicated immediately?
- Is it included in training?
Here's what WCCO learned about the gun we're told Pretti was carrying. It's called a Sig P320. Experts said it's a common firearm and one U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will carry. There are claims about negligent or accidental discharges. WCCO has learned some training programs won't work with officers with that type of firearm because of that reason.
Commander Greg Bovino with the U.S. Border Patrol said the agents involved in Saturday's deadly shooting in Minneapolis are working in another state. If what he said is true, this is in contrast to what WCCO has found should happen.
Border Patrol policy states that when an agent uses deadly force against a person, they are off for three days immediately following the incident. And at a minimum, the agent talks with a counselor. Experts say it's for the well-being of the officer and to review policy and is standard practice.