A new, minute-by-minute reconstruction based on multiple verified videos presents a markedly different picture of the events leading up to the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse killed during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
The timeline, drawn from ABC News reporting and corroborated by multiple camera angles, raises fresh questions about official descriptions of what occurred and when. Early federal statements portrayed the encounter as one in which Pretti approached U.S. Border Patrol officers armed with a handgun and intent on causing harm. That account has since been challenged by bystander video and expert review.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters that Pretti arrived “to inflict maximum damage” on law enforcement. Federal officials have maintained that agents fired in self-defense after he resisted disarmament.
However, former acting DHS undersecretary John Cohen, who reviewed the footage, stated that the available videos do not support claims that Pretti approached officers in a threatening manner or demonstrated intent to use lethal force.