The man fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis was Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, officials said.
Mr. Pretti, who was 37, was a registered nurse who worked in the intensive-care unit at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis, according to interviews and public records, and lived in an apartment in Minneapolis a short drive away from where he was killed.
He had a firearms permit, required by state law in Minnesota to carry a handgun, officials said.
Colleagues and acquaintances of Mr. Pretti were stunned by his death, recalling a friendly neighbor and hardworking professional who was devoted to his patients.
Dr. Dimitri Drekonja said that the two had worked together for years. Mr. Pretti was capable, competent and friendly, he said, the kind of person who cared deeply about his work and his patients.
“He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” he said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”
The two chatted regularly about mountain biking, one of Mr. Pretti’s passions.
Family members of Mr. Pretti declined to comment on Saturday. Michael Pretti, Mr. Pretti’s father, told The Associated Press that he had warned his son to be careful in Minneapolis.
“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.”
Mr. Pretti received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 2011, a spokeswoman said. He graduated from a high school in Green Bay, Wis., in 2006, and was listed on the honor roll in a local newspaper. His parents now live in Colorado, and his former spouse lives in California.
A next-door neighbor, Jeanne Wiener, said she believed Mr. Pretti lived alone with his dog, but saw him walking frequently, and would speak with him several times a week.
Standing in her home, Ms. Wiener said she was shocked to hear of his death.
“We talk over the fence all the time,” she said. “He’s the sweetest, kindest, most unoffensive, most nonviolent person you’d ever want to meet.”
Ruth Anway, who worked with Mr. Pretti, described him as a passionate colleague and kindhearted friend with a sharp sense of humor.
Ms. Anway, a nurse, said she first met Mr. Pretti around 2014 when he was a research assistant at the hospital. She said she had encouraged him to pursue nursing.
“He really thrived in that environment,” she said in a phone interview on Saturday. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity and have a career that was a force of good in the world.”
In his free time, she said, Mr. Pretti loved to bike the trails around Minneapolis, and spent time with his dog, Joule.
Ms. Anway said Mr. Pretti followed the news closely and cared deeply about social justice and fighting for fairness.
“I’m not surprised he was out there protesting and observing,” she said.
Aasma Shaukat, a physician at the V.A. who worked with Mr. Pretti, said she had hired him to his first job in the research department at the hospital.
Mr. Pretti, then fresh from college and in his early 20s, had come to her with no medical training, but a deep drive, she said.
“He was your typical struggling young person with a lot of ambition, but no direction yet,” she said. “But he knew he wanted to help people in some way or another.”
Mr. Pretti spent the next few years working for Dr. Shaukat, assisting on medical studies and enrolling patients — while delivering pizzas at night to make ends meet.
The last time they spoke, Mr. Pretti had been working extra shifts as a nurse, saving up to buy a home and a new car.
“He was happy, and I was happy for him because his life was just starting,” she said. “This feels so senseless and just so wrong.”
Corina Knoll is a Times correspondent focusing on feature stories.
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