The parents of Alex Pretti shared insights into who their son was before he was shot by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.
Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot point-blank by a U.S. Border Patrol officer during “a targeted operation” against “an illegal alien wanted for violent assault,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told PEOPLE in a statement on Jan. 24.
McLaughlin claimed that a man, later identified as lawful gun owner Pretti, “approached” officers while armed with a handgun. She claimed he “violently resisted” as they attempted to disarm him. Since DHS’ statement, witnesses have shared videos that contradict the agency’s claims, including that Pretti was holding a phone, not a gun, in the moments before the killing.
After his death, Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan, told the Associated Press that they spoke to him on the phone a couple of days before he was killed.
They spoke about the repairs to his home’s garage door, Michael and Susan told the AP. They said the man who repaired the garage door was Latino, and Alex gave him a $100 tip because of all that was happening in Minneapolis.
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Alex Pretti.va.gov
The parents were aware that Pretti planned to protest and had discussed it with him in a previous conversation.
“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 told the AP.
“And he said he knows that,” Michael continued. “He knew that.”
The family confirmed Pretti’s death with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner after they tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.
In a statement released after Prett’s death was confirmed, they described him as a “kindhearted soul.” They also rejected the DHS’ account of the shooting, calling the statements “sickening lies.”
“We are heartbroken but also very angry,” the statement began. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.”
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A makeshift memorial for Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Jan. 25.ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty
Six witnesses have recalled the shooting and medical care Pretti received in submitted affidavits. One was a woman driving who was instructed by Pretti where to park amid the protests. In addition to directing traffic, he was filming the scene on his cell phone, the witness alleges.
Pretti later walked over with his camera out to film and “support” the observers who were threatened with pepper spray by federal agents.
“[Pretti] put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. Then [Pretti] tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying,” the woman wrote. “It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up.”
She said that agents then took Pretti down, and when he was on the ground, four or five agents “started shooting him.”
A second witness, an unidentified 29-year-old licensed pediatrician, attempted to offer medical care to Alex, who was in “critical condition.”
Despite informing the ICE agents that they are a physician, the agents “repeatedly asked” for a physician’s license, the witness said in federal district court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Eventually, he was permitted to “assess the victim” after they “patted” them down to make sure they “didn’t have a weapon.”
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Once there, he saw Alex “lying on his side and was surrounded by several ICE agents,” and did not see the agents check for a pulse or administer CPR.
“Instead of doing either of those things, the ICE agents appeared to be counting his bullet wounds. I asked the ICE agents if the victim had a pulse, and they said they did not know,” the physician said.
“I checked for a pulse, but I did not feel one. I immediately began CPR. Shortly after I started compressions, EMS personnel arrived and took over,” the witness said. It was later revealed that Alex sustained at least 10 gunshots fired within five seconds.
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