{"id":427899,"date":"2026-01-24T23:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T23:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427899\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T23:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T23:08:07","slug":"man-killed-in-minneapolis-by-federal-agents-identified-as-va-nurse-alex-pretti-he-wanted-to-help-people-minneapolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427899\/","title":{"rendered":"Man killed in Minneapolis by federal agents identified as VA nurse Alex Pretti: \u2018He wanted to help people\u2019 | Minneapolis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota man who was killed by federal agents<\/a> on Saturday has been identified as Alex Pretti, 37, a registered nurse working in the intensive care unit at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, which serves veterans.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second fatal shooting this month in Minneapolis<\/a>, Minnesota, in addition to another non-fatal shooting, amid a major crackdown in Minnesota by federal agents.<\/p>\n

Pretti attended nursing school at the University of Minnesota<\/a>, where he was also a junior scientist beginning in 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to help people,\u201d said Dimitri Drekonja, chief of infectious diseases at the VA hospital and professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, who worked with Pretti at the hospital and on a research project. \u201cHe was a super nice, super helpful guy \u2013 looked after his patients. I\u2019m just stunned.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described Pretti as an \u201coutstanding\u201d nurse and a hard worker, quick with a joke and an \u201cinfectious\u201d spirit. \u201cHe was such a good dude,\u201d Drekonja told the Guardian. \u201cI just love working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Pretti, in an undated photo, provided by Michael Pretti. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n

Michael Pretti, Alex\u2019s father, echoed Drekonja\u2019s assessment, describing his son to the Associated Press as someone who \u201ccared 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe felt that doing the protesting was a way to express that, you know, his care for others,\u201d the elder Pretti said.<\/p>\n

Pretti\u2019s father confirmed to the AP that his son had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a US Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Videos circulating online on Saturday show Pretti directing traffic and filming federal agents, his right hand holding up his phone and his left hand empty. Another video shows him being wrestled to the ground by several law enforcement officers before appearing to be shot several times. At least two officers can be seen with their weapons drawn. Other videos show Pretti seemingly coming to the defense of a legal observer who was shoved to the ground by a federal officer. That officer then sprays Pretti with a chemical agent, repeatedly, before tackling him to the street along with other agents.<\/p>\n

As at least five agents surround Pretti on the ground, one appears to fire a shot at him at close range, followed by a volley of more shots, after which his body goes still.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I can see, he was trying to help pull someone away, which is just totally in character for him,\u201d Drekonja said.<\/p>\n

Police chief Brian O\u2019Hara later said during a press conference on Saturday that Pretti\u2019s only known previous interaction with law enforcement was for traffic tickets. O\u2019Hara also noted Pretti was \u201ca lawful gun owner with a permit to carry\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pretti\u2019s parents, who live in Wisconsin, told the AP that during a recent conversation with their son, they warned him about being careful during protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Michael Pretti said. \u201cAnd he said he knows that. He knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Pretti was in nursing school, Drekonja hired him to help support a study on preventing C diff, a devastating bacterial infection. \u201cHe was instrumental in completing our trial,\u201d Drekonja said. \u201cHe was always asking the rest of the team what he could do. He was always trying to do what he could to free up space for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretti obtained his nursing license<\/a> in 2021, and it was active through 2026. He also assisted on research in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Organization of Registered Nurses (MNORN) released a statement about Pretti\u2019s death Saturday afternoon: \u201cToday, our nursing community is grieving. We have lost a fellow registered nurse to an act of violence connected to immigration enforcement. Regardless of where each of us stands on the issues surrounding this moment, the loss of a nurse, a caregiver, a colleague, a human being cuts us deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis message is not about politics. It is about mourning a life taken too soon and honoring the calling we all share. As nurses, we understand loss in a way others may not understand. We know how quickly life can change, how fragile safety can feel, and how pain reaches far beyond one individual to families, coworkers, patients, and communities. When one nurse is lost, all of us feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Aasma Shaukat, who told the Washington Post<\/a> that she hired Pretti at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System about a decade ago, recalled him to be the \u201csweetest, kindest, gentlest soul you ever met\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, he wanted to get into the health care field, work with patients and be a nurse,\u201d she told the Post. \u201cHe did wonderful. Did his work really well, was a team player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaukat also said Pretti \u201calways stood for people and human rights, helping fellow citizens and just being a good citizen of society and the communities that he lived in\u201d. Of the videos circulating on the shooting, Shaukat told the paper: \u201cIt just feels so wrong. Knowing Alex, he was probably trying to protect or help or shield somebody from the agents. He had not a single mean bone in his body; always spoke about doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretti loved mountain biking, and he and Drekonja always talked about biking together on the trails they both frequented.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe found humor in life, and that\u2019s what\u2019s just so sad about seeing this,\u201d Drekonja said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a huge tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota man who was killed by federal agents on Saturday has been identified as Alex Pretti, 37,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-427899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}