MINNEAPOLIS — The Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether an errant shot from Alex Pretti’s handgun — after it was taken off of him — caused Border Patrol agents to think they were being fired on, The Post has learned.
As a result of the accidental discharge, which happened while the gun was in a Border agent’s hand, other officers may have believed their lives were in danger — resulting in the split-second decision to open fire on Pretti, killing him, multiple sources familiar with the investigation said.
The explanation is a shift from initial claims by DHS officials, who at first said Pretti was brandishing the Sig Sauer P320 pistol, which he was legally allowed to carry.
A federal agent holding Alex Pretti’s gun after disarming him before the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. X/robdoar
The DHS is investigating whether Pretti’s gun accidentally fired after it was taken from him. X/robdoar
“It was 100% an accidental discharge by the agent that relieved that person of their weapon. Because everyone’s guns were out, they think that there’s a shooting,” one source said.
Additional sources confirmed that this is the explanation for the shooting that DHS is investigating.
The Sig Sauer P320 has faced reports of “uncommanded discharges” due to external factors affecting the trigger, something the company has denied.
The handgun, which is used extensively by US civilians and law enforcement — including ICE, has no external safety lever.
Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis were wrestling Pretti to the ground in Minneapolis Saturday after he turned out for an impromptu anti-ICE protest.
Alex Pretti speaking with a federal officer on Saturday before the shooting. AP
The officers surrounded Pretti has he was on the ground.
The gun officers took off Pretti on Saturday. via REUTERS
Pretti put himself between the federal agents and a woman who was being pepper-sprayed, video from the scene shows. An analysis of the bystander footage indicates that one shot appeared to come from Pretti’s gun after a Border Agent grabbed it from his waistband and was walking away with it.
That shot resulted in other agents — at least one of whom had drawn his weapon at that point — to open fire about 10 times.
President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel have both questioned why Pretti came to the protest on Saturday with a loaded handgun.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the shooting of a 37-year-old anti-ICE protester in Minneapolis
“You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have a right to break the law,” Director Patel told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
But his remarks have drawn fury from many gun owners’ groups, with Patel being branded “completely incorrect” by the Gun Owners Caucus of Minnesota.
“There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota,” the group said in a statement on X.
Pretti was an ICU nurse at a Minneapolis VA hospital. Facebook / Fight for a Union
Sources familiar with the investigation said the agents involved were overworked and not trained to deal with protesters — or the types of confrontations that are regularly happening with ICE Watch protesters in Minneapolis.
“None of those agents should’ve had their gun out. It’s a confluence of them being asked to do enforcement work that they are not trained for,” a source said.
“All of this is avoidable. None of this should be happening.”
The source also warned of the threat to morale of the DHS officers, who are now having to act both as immigration officials and local police.
“There are very mixed feelings internally about what’s going on, and they do not want to, nor are they prepared to do both protest, enforcement, and management, plus street-level enforcement like this,” the source said.
Pretti was one of around 50 anti-ICE protesters who came out onto the streets on Saturday.
“Word got around that a bunch of ICE agents had shown up and were making rounds, so folks mobilized. It wasn’t that many people — maybe 50 altogether, which sounds like a lot, but it isn’t,” Minneapolis resident Blair told The Post.
“At about 8:30 I heard a bunch of gunshots, and we knew something bad had happened. The next thing we knew, ambulances showed up. We helped set up a triage for EMS, because at the time we didn’t know how many people had been shot. Then word got around that somebody had been killed, and everything blew up after that,” Blair added.
It comes as President Trump sent Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota amid ongoing violent clashes between ICE officers and protesters.
Pretti was a licensed gun owner with a permit to carry a concealed firearm. via REUTERS
So far, the administration is sticking by Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, who is increasingly under fire from Dems over his handling of operations in Minneapolis and claims about Pretti after the shooting.
“Homan is simply going there to assess what is going on. It does not indicate one way or another lack of confidence in [DHS Secretary Kristi Noem] or Bovino. They love Bovino,” the source added.
On Monday, it was revealed that Bovino and some of his Border Patrol agents would be leaving Minneapolis, Fox News reported.
Tensions remain high in the city following the death of Pretti, an ICU nurse who treated sick veterans at a hospital in Minneapolis.
Pretti, a registered Democrat, had a history of protesting, previously taking to the streets following the killing of George Floyd, close to where Pretti lived with his wife of the time in 2020.
His ex-wife, who hadn’t spoken to Pretti for two years since they divorced, said he had gotten a permit to carry a concealed firearm a few months before the couple split.
He owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated, the ex-wife, who asked to remain unidentified, told AP.
She described Pretti as someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, ut added that she had never known him to be physically confrontational.