“HE SAVED LIVES FOR A LIVING — THEN CAME THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING.” I,C,U Nurse’s Fatal Encounter with Federal Agents Triggers a Shocking Twist, Furious Backlash, and a Mystery That Refuses to Stay Quiet

The man shot dead during a struggle with federal agents in Minneapolis has been identified as an intensive care nurse who treated critically ill military veterans.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9am Saturday after an altercation involving multiple federal officers.

Minneapolis police confirmed the deceased was a white, 37‑year‑old Minnesota resident and US citizen.

Pretti’s friends have since confirmed his identity to the Daily Mail as they paid tribute to the ‘good, kind’ who they say was ‘executed’ by a Border Patrol agent.

The University of Minnesota alumnus most recently listed himself as a ‘junior scientist’ on LinkedIn.

He worked as a nurse for the Veterans Health Administration at the Minneapolis VA hospital and earned a reported $90,783 in 2023, according to public records.

‘I worked with him daily for years at the VA hospital,’ Ruth Anway, a Minneapolis‑based nurse, told the Daily Mail.

 ‘He was an ICU nurse. He worked with veterans. He was a really good guy. He definitely did not deserve to get killed.’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Mail that agents were in the area attempting to apprehend, ‘an illegal alien wanted for violent assault’ when they were approached by Pretti.

According to DHS, Pretti was armed and carrying a gun with two magazines at the time he was detained. The agency later released a photograph of a nine‑millimeter semi‑automatic handgun it said was recovered during the clash.

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

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

Video from the scene shows agents wrestling with Pretti and taking him to the ground moments before the shooting.

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 lawful gun owner with a valid permit.

Anway said Pretti was politically engaged and deeply informed.

‘He was always keeping up with the news and always just really well informed about what was going on,’ she said.

‘We would always talk about everything going on in the world. As a friend who just saw my friend get killed, I just want to say he was a good guy,’ she said.

Anway last saw Pretti a few months ago. She recalled working with Pretti on January 6, 2021, as the US Capitol was attacked.

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

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

‘I just know he was there because he felt conviction,’ she said.

Whitney Weisser, 37, a colleague of Pretti’s who attended nursing school with him at the Minnesota Technical & Community College, said he was an ‘amazing’ person.

‘I know it’s a cliche but he really was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,’ Weisser told the Daily Mail.

‘He was rebuilding his life when I met him. He went back to nursing school forn a new career.’

Weisser and Pretti attended nursing school together from 2019 through 2021. She said he was previously a researcher, but wanted to be a nurse so he could help people.

‘He was the most protective guy. If any of us dealt with anything inappropriate from a patient or a coworker or anyone, he was there. He would always protect the person being bullied,’ Weisser emotionally recalled.

‘That’s what he was doing today, protecting a woman who was being bullied.’

Weisser said Pretti was ‘smart as hell’ and wouldn’t pick a fight with an officer. She said she believed he wanted to protect people.

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

‘Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA,’ Drekonja wrote. ‘We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse. I loved working with him. He was a good, kind person who lived to help – and these f***ers executed him.’

Drekonja said he felt a ‘white‑hot rage’ 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’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now.’

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

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

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned Saturday’s killing, calling it ‘another horrific shooting’ by federal agents deployed as part of a broader immigration crackdown.

‘Minnesota has had it. This is sickening,’ Walz said on X, calling on the White House to end the operation.

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

Minneapolis has faced rising tensions amid the federal enforcement presence and ongoing protests – a backdrop shaped by prior high‑profile police killings, including the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Federal authorities identified the man they were initially seeking Saturday as Jose Huerta‑Chuma, an Ecuadorian national.

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said Huerta‑Chuma has a criminal history that includes domestic assault, disorderly conduct and driving without a license, though federal court records did not list any cases under his name.