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26 Jan 2026 8:08
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  •   Home > News > International

    A second person has been shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis. Here's what we know

    For the second time in less than a month, federal agents have shot and killed a resident of the US city of Minneapolis.


    For the second time in less than a month, federal agents have shot and killed a resident of the US city of Minneapolis.

    The man has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a US citizen who worked as an intensive care unit nurse.

    His death has prompted a fierce political debate and further protests in an already tense city.

    Here's what we know about the situation so far. 

    How the shooting unfolded

    Just as there were following the fatal shooting of Renee Good earlier this month, there are multiple videos of the incident circulating online and conflicting accounts of how it occurred.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says officers were conducting a "targeted operation" against an illegal immigrant wanted for "violent assault" on Saturday morning local time when a man approached Border Patrol officers with a semi-automatic handgun.

    "The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted," the agency said.

    "Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots."

    Verified footage captured at the scene shows what appears to be a scuffle between officers, Mr Pretti and two other protesters. 

    One of the protesters is pushed by an officer and falls. As Mr Pretti reaches for them, he is sprayed and surrounded by agents.

    He struggles as he's wrestled to the ground, with one of the officers then seen striking him.

    One agent appears to draw their weapon before multiple gun shots are heard. It's not clear from the videos who fired the first shot.

    The agents then back away, leaving the man lying on the road as bystanders are heard screaming.

    Officers are later seen administering medical aid, but Mr Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Opposing narratives from local and federal authorities

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the officers' actions, arguing Mr Pretti was in possession of two loaded magazines as well as the handgun.

    "This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers, committed an act of domestic terrorism," she said.

    "They [the agents] responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer's life and those of the public around him."

    Ms Noem did not provide any information on whether Mr Pretti had brandished the weapon.

    Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara did not name Mr Pretti but said the man killed was a "lawful gun owner with a permit to carry".

    In a statement, Mr Pretti's parents accused the Trump administration of telling "sickening lies" about their son.

    "Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs," Michael and Susan Pretti said in a statement published by the Washington Post.

    "He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed."

    The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, also criticised the federal response.

    "Before any investigation is done you have the most powerful people in the federal government spinning stories and putting up pictures and unrelated people who we don't know anything about and a picture of a firearm to try and spin a narrative," he said.

    President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, posting a photo of the gun Mr Pretti was alleged to be carrying and hitting out at local and state officials.

    "The mayor and the governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!" he said on Truth Social.

    "Let our ICE patriots do their job!"

    Man who died 'very upset' with ICE operation in Minneapolis

    Mr Pretti's family says he worked as an ICU nurse at a hospital run by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

    He was an American citizen who lived several kilometres from where he was shot. Court records show he did not have a criminal record.

    "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," his father Michael Pretti said.

    "He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests."

    Mr Trump campaigned on a promise of carrying out the largest deportation program in US history and has deployed thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to Democrat-led cities across the country, including Minneapolis.

    State and local officials in Minnesota have pushed back against the crackdown, with several reportedly being served with subpoenas as part of a federal investigation into whether they obstructed the operation.

    Tensions escalated significantly after mother-of-three Renee Good was fatally shot by an immigration agent on January 7, with Mayor Frey publicly demanding that ICE "get the f*** out of Minneapolis."

    Protesters have also demonstrated against the agency's detention of children, including a five-year-old boy.

    Minneapolis officials are now urging a judge to temporarily pause the ICE operation in the city, while the state government has insisted it will carry out its own investigation into Mr Pretti's death.

    Protesters gather in sub-zero temperatures

    Mr Pretti's death prompted hundreds of people to demonstrate in the neighbourhood where he was killed, with officers deploying tear gas as they clashed with protesters.

    DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said one officer had part of his finger bitten off by a demonstrator.

    "He will lose his finger," she said on X.

    Protesters turned out despite freezing cold temperatures as low as minus 21 degrees Celsius, a day after thousands of people took part in anti-ICE rallies.

    The Minnesota government has called in members of the state's National Guard to support local police at the scene, with Governor Walz urging calm.

    "They want chaos," he said, referring to the Trump administration.

    "We cannot and we will not give them what they want by beating violence with violence."


    ABC




    © 2026 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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