National Guard activated in Minneapolis after Border Patrol agent kills man
Edited By CURTIS YEE, PAMELA SAMPSON, BRIDGET BROWN, PETER ORSI and NELL CLARK
A federal immigration officer shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.
The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both the shooting site and a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.
The shooting happened amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was killed when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.
Here’s what we know:
Family members say the victim, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. Pretti, 37, had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. The police chief believed the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
Several bystander videos of the shooting emerged soon after. Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand, but no videos appear to show him with a visible weapon.
Compiling accurate and thorough information on breaking news takes time. Reporters are working to piece together the details from eyewitness accounts, authorities and other sources.
I saw something about this on Facebook earlier today. Didn't include ANY info on what the proclaimed murder was about, just a pix, name, and that he was an ICU nurse.
What happens when video shows NO GUN?
Re: Holy goddamn SH!T!!!!
Posted by jacque on January 25, 2026, 1:09 am, in reply to "Holy goddamn SH!T!!!!" Valued Poster
Yes he was a VA nurse with a permit to carry.
I watched the story develop within minutes of it happening it was global at that point.
Just like Renee Good almost every observer has video that proves MURDER. There is clear video of one agent removing a holstered gun as 5 of them pinned him. He was shot within 2 seconds of that at least 4 times in the back by another agent.
Alex was protecting a woman observer they were accosting.
I have been working nights. I didn't sleep well today after watching another murder.
live long and prosper as best you can. Jacque "Jack of all trades is master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." ... And thanks for masters in skill for a standard of work to instill.
on January 24, 2026, 9:30 pm
