The Hennepin County medical examiner has announced the real cause of Alex Pretti’s death — and it wasn’t the gun

Homicide means the death came at the hands of another person and does not necessarily mean the person died from a criminal act.

Just as it ruled in the death of Renee Good last month, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said on Feb. 2 that Alex Pretti was a homicide victim when he was shot on Jan. 24 during an encounter with federal agents.

The office released the information about the 37-year-old Minneapolis man’s killing in a form that was posted to its public data portal.

The disclosure noted that Pretti suffered “multiple gunshot wounds” from law enforcement and died that day at HCMC. Otherwise, it offered no further specifics from the autopsy.

About 10 shots were fired by agents while Pretti was observing an immigration enforcement action on Nicollet Avenue near 26th Street, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune analysis of video recorded at the scene.

Homicide is defined as a death that occurs at the hands of another person and does not necessarily mean the person died from a criminal act.

When the office made the same disclosure one week after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in 2020, it also included this explanation: “Manner of death classification is a statutory function of the medical examiner, as part of death certification for purposes of vital statistics and public health. Manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process. Such decisions are outside the scope of the medical examiner’s role or authority. Under Minnesota state law, the medical examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency.”

The office included no such caveat in its release addressing either Good’s or Pretti’s death, which have prompted ongoing protests across the Twin Cities, Minnesota and elsewhere in the country.