MINNEAPOLIS — Alex Pretti, the man fatally shot by federal agents Saturday, was a local intensive care nurse dedicated to caring for veterans, according to friends and former co-workers.
“He took great care of his patients,” said Dimitri Drekonja, an infectious diseases physician at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System who worked with Pretti.
Pretti, identified by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a news release, is the third person shot by federal immigration officials in recent weeks.
Pretti, 37, was shot outside a popular doughnut shop about a mile and a half from his home by U.S. Border Patrol, according to law enforcement officials. The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting followed a struggle between Pretti and officers and that Pretti was in possession of a 9mm handgun.
Pretti had a firearms permit, required by state law to carry a handgun, law enforcement officials said.
The shooting sparked protests and clashesbetween demonstrators and authorities near the scene, which state investigators said they were barred from accessing Saturday by federal officials.
Aasma Shaukat said she hired Pretti for a research position at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System about a decade ago. “Alex was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul you ever met,” said Shaukat, now a physician and clinical researcher at the Manhattan VA Medical Center.
“He was very bright-eyed, bushy-tailed. He wanted to get into the health care field, work with patients and be a nurse,” she recalled. “He did wonderful. Did his work really well, was a team player.”
After finishing nursing school, Pretti returned to the Minneapolis VA as an intensive care nurse, she said.
“He wanted to serve the veterans, just had a high sense of duty and thought they were a vulnerable group in the country who needed our help,” she said.
Drekonja said he was impressed that Pretti secured a job in the ICU fresh out of nursing school. “It is a testament to his abilities that he felt ready for it, that he was up for that challenge and wanted to help,” he said.
Pretti would always greet him by name, Drekonja recalled, and stood out from other nurses for his distinctive beard. They both loved mountain biking and often rode the same trails, he said.
They never spoke about ICE operations or politics at work, Drekonja said.
“He was really someone that helped,” Drekonja said. “It’s just impossible to imagine a negative interaction with him. And the fact that he was killed on city streets — as an employee of the U.S. government, by the U.S. government — it’s blowing my mind.”
Pretti was a member of the local nurses’ union, AFGE Council 238, which called his shooting “appalling.” “The murder of our union brother Alex Pretti is an unconscionable act of violence and a betrayal of the values federal workers are sworn to uphold,” AFGE Council 238 President Justin Chen said in a statement.
Pretti was excited about his future, said Shaukat. “Being an ICU nurse is tough — it’s pretty intense. But he was looking forward to getting a place, a car,” Shaukat said.
The shooting “feels so wrong,” she said. “Knowing Alex, he was probably trying to protect or help or shield somebody from the agents. He had not a single mean bone in his body; always spoke about doing the right thing.”
Pretti’s sister declined to comment on Saturday. His father, Michael Pretti, 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.”
Pretti graduated from high school in Green Bay, Wis., in 2006, and was listed on the honor roll in a local newspaper.
Pretti lived in a quiet tree-lined South Minneapolis neighborhood of single family homes and small apartment buildings, where neighbors gather in the street on lawn chairs with food during the warmer months.
Chris Gray, 41, a special education math teacher, lives in an apartment building near Pretti’s. Gray said that while he did not know Pretti well, the shooting felt personal. Gray has been patrolling the streets as one of many local volunteers monitoring ICE officers.
“It feels like [these killings] are just what happens now,” Gray said. “That could have been me or anyone. I’ve rarely felt that way, until today.”
Gurley reported from Minneapolis. Hennessy-Fiske reported from Houston. Gupta reported from Washington.
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