37-year-old man shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Here's what to know.
A man is dead after a shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday involving federal immigration agents from Customs and Border Protection, officials said.
It comes more than two weeks after a 37-year-old woman was also fatally shot in a south Minneapolis residential neighborhood by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while in her vehicle following a surge of federal officers to the city amid a White House immigration crackdown and allegations of statewide fraud.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said at a news briefing that the man was 37-year-old American citizen who lived in Minneapolis. He was later identified by family members as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration.
Pretti "approached" federal agents armed with a gun, Noem says
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti on Saturday morning "approached" U.S. Border Patrol officers while they were conducting "targeted" immigration enforcement operations, carrying a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
Noem said officers attempted to disarm him, but he "reacted violently," and "fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots."
First aid was rendered, but he died at the scene, she said. O'Hara, however, said Pretti was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Noem added that he was also carrying two magazines that each held dozens of rounds, and had no identification on him.
O'Hara said police believe he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry, and that his only previous interaction with law enforcement was traffic violations.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said at a separate news conference Saturday afternoon that federal agents were working to apprehend a suspect in a targeted operation when they were approached by the man holding a 9-mm handgun. Federal officers tried to wrest the gun from him, but then the man violently resisted, Bovino said, and fearing for his life, the agent fired "defensive shots."
"We will not allow violence against our federal law enforcement officers," he said.
Videos show federal agent removing gun from altercation
Video footage verified by CBS News shows an altercation between several officers and a person on the ground before shots are heard.
Multiple videos of Saturday's deadly shooting show a federal agent in a gray jacket reaching into the scuffle empty-handed and emerging with a gun in his right hand.
It is unclear if it is the same firearm from the photo released by the federal government. The agent is holding that gun and turning away from the man when the first shot is fired. Videos show the agent in the gray jacket then running across the street as numerous shots are fired.
Additionally, videos filmed before the shooting show the man did not have a gun in his hands. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that "an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun."
Several videos from before the shooting show the man was holding a phone in his right hand and nothing in his left.
Bovino didn't address questions about how his account differed from what is seen in several videos showing the incident. Video from right before the shooting shows Pretti without a weapon in hand before agents tackled him to the ground.
O'Hara said that Minneapolis police have not been provided with "any public safety statement around the incident, what happened," by federal agents.
"We do not know what happened prior to the recording," O'Hara said. The police chief said the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state's criminal investigative bureau, were on the scene.
Local leaders react to shooting death of Alex Pretti
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for an end to the federal operation in Minnesota and said he has submitted a formal request to Gov. Tim Walz to deploy the Minnesota National Guard.
"I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death," said Frey. "How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end? How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values? How many times must local and national leaders must plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city?"
In a second news conference Saturday afternoon, Frey said that the city was "filing a declaration" in its federal lawsuit challenging the surge of federal officers "to encourage the judge to rule on a temporary restraining order on Monday that would grant us immediate relief, and would help stop this operation that has been so harmful to the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota and resulted in multiple shootings and tragic deaths."
Walz said earlier that he had spoken to the White House about the shooting, adding that the state will perform its own investigation into it.
"Minnesota's justice system will have the last word on this. It must have the last word on this," Walz said. "As I told the White House in no uncertain terms, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period."
This is the second time a person has been shot and killed by immigration officials in the city this month. Renee Good was shot and killed behind the wheel of her SUV earlier in January by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross.
Protesters demonstrate at scene of shooting
The shooting occurred near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street, and Minneapolis police urged people to avoid the area.
However, a group of protesters descended to the scene following the shooting, Noem said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. McLaughlin referred to protesters as "rioters." Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly.
"We saw objects being thrown at them, including ICE and other objects, and a rampant assault began and even an HSI officer agent's finger was bitten off," Noem said, providing no further details.
Despite earlier chaos, demonstrations throughout the city are currently "peaceful" and that his officers "intend to keep it that way," O'Hara said in a second news conference that took place at the same time as Noem's.
Video footage from CBS Minnesota showed standoffs between protesters and federal officers. Airborne chemical irritants were discharged and whistling and shouting were audible on the video. Protesters were also seen setting up barricades of trash cans. One person told the station they wanted to keep ICE out of their community.