Updated January 24, 2026 at 5:48 PM CST
A man shot Saturday morning by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis has died, federal and local officials said.
The man was identified by state officials as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and Minneapolis resident.
The incident, the third shooting involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month, occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Central Time on the city's South Side when federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation against a man the Department of Homeland Security said was undocumented and wanted for "violent assault."
Gregory Bovino, head of U.S. Border Patrol, said a different man — the one who was fatally shot — approached Border Patrol agents with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, reiterating DHS's earlier account of the events. Bovino said agents attempted to disarm the man, but he "violently resisted." The agent shot and killed the man in self-defense, according to Bovino.
DHS said Pretti had two gun magazines and no identification. The federal officer feared for his life and fired defensive shots. The agency has not publicly identified the dead man.
"This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement," the agency said.
Bystander video, posted to social media and not independently confirmed by NPR, appears to contradict DHS' account of the shooting. The footage appears to show multiple federal agents surrounding a man on the ground, with several punching him and trying to restrain him before an agent shoots him. It's unclear whether the man brandished or tried to use the firearm that federal officials said he had in his possession.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that the dead man was believed to be a U.S. citizen. His only known interaction with police was for traffic tickets, O'Hara said.
"We believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry," O'Hara said.
The man was shot multiple times, possibly by more than one federal officer, O'Hara said. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
"We were not provided any public safety statement around the incident…" he said.
Bovino said the officer who fired the shots was "highly trained" and has worked as a Border Patrol agent for the last eight years. He said the shooting remains under investigation.
Renee Macklin Good, 37 and a mother of three, was fatally shot on Jan. 7 in her SUV as she drove away after partially blocking a Minneapolis street.
On Jan. 14, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celia, a Venezuelan national, was shot in the leg by immigration officers during an altercation with immigration officials.
"Minnesota has had it," Gov. Tim Walz posted on social media this morning. "This is sickening."
Walz post that he spoke with someone from the White House after the shooting and called on President Trump to end the immigration operation immediately.
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