ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti identified as victim of Minneapolis shooting as furious friends say ‘good, kind’ man was ‘executed’

A critical care nurse who spent years treating critically ill military veterans has been identified as the man shot and killed during a struggle with federal agents in Minneapolis.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday near the Glam Doll Donuts at 26th Street and Nicollet Boulevard following an altercation involving multiple federal officers.

Local media, including the Star Tribune, suggested that Pretti was the person shot to death. Minneapolis police confirmed that the deceased was a 37-year-old white Minnesota resident and U.S. citizen.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Mail that agents were trying to capture ‘an illegal alien wanted for violent assault’ in the area and were approached by Pretti.

Federal authorities initially identified the man they were looking for as Ecuadorian citizen Jose Huerta‑Chuma.

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said Huerta-Chuma has a criminal history that includes domestic assault, disorderly conduct and driving without a license, but no cases are listed under his name in federal court records.

According to DHS, Pretti was armed and carrying two magazines when he was taken into custody. The agency later released a photo of a nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistol it said was seized during the shootout.

Officials allege officers attempted to disarm Pretti, but he ‘violently resisted’ before a Border Patrol agent fired the fatal shot.

Pretti is a registered nurse, a U.S. citizen and Minnesota resident, and has a gun permit, according to authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Mail that the deceased was armed with two magazines and the gun was later seized by federal authorities (pictured)

Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene. DHS said he did not have any identification on him at the time.

Video from the scene shows agents wrestling Pretti and taking him to the ground moments before he was shot.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti had no serious criminal history, with records showing only minor parking violations. O’Hara added that he was a legal gun owner with a valid permit.

Pretti worked as a registered nurse with the Veterans Health Administration at the Minneapolis VA hospital and reportedly earned $90,783 in 2023, according to public records.

Records also show that he attended the University of Minnesota and most recently listed himself as a ‘junior scientist’ on LinkedIn.

Those who worked with him said his death was devastating.

‘I worked with him every day at the VA hospital for years,’ Minneapolis-based nurse Ruth Anway told the Daily Mail. ‘She was a nurse in intensive care. He worked with veterans. He was a really good man. ‘He definitely didn’t deserve to be killed.’

Anway said she worked with Pretti for about six years and also collaborated with her early in her career while in nursing school, including on a research study at the VA. He declined to go into detail, saying the hospital’s federal status limits what he can discuss.

‘As a friend who saw my friend killed, I want to say that he was a good man,’ he said. Anway last saw Pretti a few months ago.

He described him as politically engaged and deeply knowledgeable.

‘He was always following the news and always very well informed about what was going on,’ he said. ‘We would always talk about everything going on in the world.’

Anway recalled working with Pretti on Jan. 6, 2021, when the U.S. Capitol was attacked.

Pretti is seen confronting federal agents before he is shot to death

A protester was detained after a Border Patrol agent reportedly shot a man multiple times in Minneapolis

‘I remember we were working together and I looked at him and said, “What’s going on? This is crazy.”

He said Pretti believed strongly in political activism and standing up for what he saw as injustice, adding that he believed those convictions explained why he was on the scene Saturday.

‘I just know he’s there because he has faith,’ he said.

Anway also noted that Minneapolis feels “really weird right now” due to increased immigration enforcement.

‘I thought living in a 1938 German-style environment would be a little more distinctive,’ he said. ‘Yet I live in this white neighborhood that hasn’t seen much ICE. It’s weird because I’m not personally affected by it; But I see some extremely sad things in the news.’

‘I know those who were deported. People who are planning to leave even though they are here legally. “This doesn’t feel like America to me,” he added.

D., chief of the Minneapolis VA Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dimitri Drekonja also paid tribute to Pretti in a Facebook post.

‘Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA,’ Drekonja wrote. ‘We hired him for our case. She became an intensive care nurse. I loved working with him. He was a good, kind person who lived to help, and these scumbags executed him.’

Local police identified the man as a 37-year-old white U.S. citizen from Minneapolis.

A federal agent and a protester spotted face-to-face amid widespread protests

Drekonja said he felt “fiery anger” after learning of Pretti’s death, adding that Pretti worked closely with critically ill veterans and was known for his positive attitude.

‘He had such a great attitude,’ he wrote. ‘We would chat between patients about trying to go mountain biking together. It will never happen again.’

Pretti lived in Minneapolis but also had ties to Green Bay, Wisconsin and Colorado.

The shooting marks the third recent incident involving federal agents in Minneapolis. This follows the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7 and another incident about a week later in which a federal agent wounded a man.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned Saturday’s killing, calling it “yet another horrific attack” by federal agents deployed as part of a broader crackdown on immigrants.

‘Minnesota experienced this. This is sickening,” Walz said, calling on X and the White House to end the operation.

Saturday’s shooting sparked immediate protests, with bystanders shouting profanities at federal officers and telling them to leave town.

Minneapolis has faced rising tensions between the presence of federal sanctions and ongoing protests; It was a backdrop shaped by previous high-profile police killings, including the 2020 death of George Floyd.