Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who deeply cared about people and was distressed by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who loved adventure and spending time with Joule, his Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had taken part in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs officer on Jan. 7.
“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,” said his father, Michael Pretti. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
Pretti was a U.S. citizen born in Illinois. Like Good, court records show he had no criminal history, and his family said he had never had any encounters with law enforcement beyond a few traffic tickets.
In a recent conversation, his parents, who live in Colorado, urged him to be careful while protesting.
“We 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,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not say whether Pretti brandished the gun, and it is not visible in bystander video of the shooting obtained by The Associated Press.
Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Minnesota, though they said they had never known him to carry it.
Alex Pretti’s Family Struggles for Information About What Happened
The family first learned of the shooting after being contacted by an AP reporter. After watching the video, they said the man who was killed appeared to be their son. They then attempted to contact Minnesota officials.
“I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”
The family later contacted the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed there was a body matching their son’s name and description.
Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football and baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was also a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.
After graduating, he attended the University of Minnesota, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment in 2011, according to his family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.
Alex Pretti Had Protested Before
Pretti’s ex-wife, Rachel N. Canoun, said she was not surprised that he would be involved in protests against Trump’s immigration policies. She said they had not spoken since their divorce more than two years ago, after she moved to another state.
She described him as a Democratic voter who participated in the street protests that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, near where the couple lived. They often livestreamed events to social media. Canoun said he might shout at officers during protests but was never physically confrontational.
“These kinds of things, you know, he felt the injustice to it,” Canoun said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that he would be involved.”
She added that Pretti obtained a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.
“He didn’t carry it around me, because it made me uncomfortable,” she said.
Pretti Had ‘A Great Heart’
Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet, kind and helpful.
“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived in the unit below him and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”
Neighbors said he often stepped in to help if something seemed suspicious in the area or if they worried about issues like a possible gas leak.
Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but neighbors said he was social and occasionally had friends over.
They knew he owned firearms and sometimes took a rifle to a shooting range, but said they were surprised by the idea that he might carry a pistol in public.
“I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” Gitar said.
Pretti Was Also Passionate About the Outdoors
A competitive bicycle racer who took pride in caring for his new Audi, Pretti was also deeply devoted to his dog, who died about a year ago.
His parents said they last spoke with their son a few days before his death, discussing repairs he had made to his garage door. The worker who helped him was Latino, and given everything happening in Minneapolis, they said Pretti tipped him $100.
Pretti’s mother said her son cared deeply about the direction the country was headed, particularly the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.
“He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”