Minneapolis mourns ICU nurse killed by a Border Patrol agent as a
warmhearted neighbor and caregiver
[January 26, 2026]
By MICHAEL BIESECKER, JIM MUSTIAN and SARAH RAZA
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As Minneapolis mourned the intensive care nurse
killed by Border Patrol officers in a hail of gunfire, those who knew
Alex Pretti came forward Sunday to dispute the narrative of top Trump
administration officials that he was a violent “domestic terrorist” and
would-be assassin.
Pretti, 37, was remembered as kind and warm-hearted by his family,
neighbors and the loved ones of the ailing veterans he treated at the
Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
A video posted to social media showed Pretti reading a final salute at
the foot of the flag-draped body of Terrance Lee Randolph, an Air Force
vet who died at the hospital in 2024.
“Today we remember that freedom is not free,” Pretti, wearing navy blue
scrubs, says in the video. “We have to work for it, nurture it, protect
it, and even sacrifice for it.”
Randolph's son, Mac Randolph, remembered Pretti tending to his father in
his final days and said he found the words “very on point” in the wake
of Saturday's deadly shooting.
“He was extremely knowledgeable and caring,” Mac Randolph said. “He was
able to answer any questions we had and would really hear out our
concerns. He treated my father and our family with the utmost dignity
and respect. He was truly one of the best of us.”
Family members say Pretti was deeply empathic of those he saw as being
mistreated and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration
crackdown in his city. He had participated in protests following the
Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer.
Pretti was also an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures
with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who recently died.
“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was
happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as
millions of other people are upset,” Michael Pretti told The Associated
Press on Saturday shortly after his son's death. “He thought it was
terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the
street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did
participate in protests.”
Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records
show he had no criminal record, and his family said he had never had any
interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.
In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in
Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.
“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 Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew
that.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the man was shot after he
“approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.
Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun. In bystander
videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a
phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.
Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a
concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to
carry it.
Alex Pretti's family struggles for information about what happened
The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an
Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man
killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to
officials in Minnesota.
“I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said
Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s
closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”
Eventually, the parents called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who
they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of
their son.
As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from
anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son's death.
After seeing videos of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and others suggesting
their son was a “domestic terrorist” who attacked the officers who shot
him, they issued a written statement describing themselves as both
heartbroken and angry.
"The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are
reprehensible and disgusting," the family said. They added that videos
showed Alex Pretti was not holding a gun when he was tackled by federal
agents, but holding his phone with one hand and using the other to
shield a woman who was being pepper-sprayed.
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This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti,
the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Michael Pretti via AP)
“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they
said.
Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played
football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a
Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.
After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating
in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the
environment, according to the family. He worked as a research
scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.
Alex Pretti had protested before
Pretti’s ex-wife, who spoke to the AP but later said she didn’t want
her name used, said she was not surprised he would have been
involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she
had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago
and she moved to another state.
She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in
the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by
a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s
neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law
enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be
physically confrontational.
She said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about
three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun
when they separated.
Pretti had ‘a great heart’
Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles (3.2
kilometers) from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet
and warmhearted.
“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from
Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago.
“He has a great heart.”
If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or
when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump
in to help.
Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not
a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.
His neighbors knew he had guns — he’d occasionally take a rifle to
shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might
carry a pistol on the streets.
“I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.
As a light dusting of snow fell over Minneapolis Sunday morning,
community members lit candles, lay fresh flowers and stood somberly
around a makeshift vigil at the site of Pretti's death. Pine cones
were assembled to read, “Long live Alex Pretti.” Some bouquets had a
layer of frost from being out all night. A few Minneapolis police
cars stood nearby.
Pretti was passionate about the outdoors
A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi,
Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a
year ago.
His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple
days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the
garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said
with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100
tip.
Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the
country was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback
of environmental regulations.
“He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan
Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he
went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were
doing to it.”
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Biesecker reported from Washington and Mustian from New York.
Associated Press reporter Tim Sullivan contributed from Minneapolis.
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