Man fatally shot by federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

Family members say the man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Trump's immigration crackdown in his city.

They told The Associated Press he was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good, who was shot behind the wheel of her SUV by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.

"He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset," said Michael Pretti, Alex's father. "He felt that doing the protesting was a way to express that, you know, his care for others."

Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a couple of traffic tickets.

In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Wisconsin, told him to be careful when protesting.

"We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically," Michael Pretti said. "And he said he knows that. He knew that."

A neighbor described Pretti as someone who "would always be willing to help others."

"I didn't know Alex super well, but he was a great guy and neighbor," she told CBS Minnesota station WCCO. "He loved his car and took very good care of it. He used to have a dog who passed around a year or two ago, I think. I remember how sweet it was that, as his dog was more elderly, less mobile, he'd be willing to carry him down to the yard to get some fresh air and to enjoy the outdoors. His dog would lay down and Alex would sit with him and pet him for long periods of time. He was very caring, you could tell. We are all heartbroken and are praying for his family and friends and for justice for him."

Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara also said police believed he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. 

The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting happened after he "approached" U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun, and it is not visible in bystander videos of the shooting obtained and verified by CBS News, The AP and other outlets.

The shooting came one day after tens of thousands of people marched through downtown Minneapolis to protest ICE's presence in the city. 

The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

"I can't get any information from anybody," Michael Pretti said Saturday. "The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol's closed, the hospitals won't answer any questions?"

Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed there was a body matching the name and description of their son.

As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son's death.

Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

Alex Pretti had protested before

Pretti's ex-wife, who spoke to the AP but later said she didn't want her name used, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump's immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple's neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

She said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

Pretti had "a great heart" and "loved this country"

Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet and warmhearted.

"He's a wonderful person," said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. "He has a great heart."

If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.

His neighbors knew he had guns — he'd occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

"I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun," said Gitar.

His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple of days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis, he gave the man a $100 tip.

Pretti's mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations.

"He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land," Susan Pretti said. "He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it."