Video shows federal agents taking a handgun away from a Minneapolis protester, yet moments later, the same man lies dead in the street after a barrage of government gunfire.
The man was Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He was legally armed and present near an immigration enforcement operation when federal officers shot him multiple times on a city street, according to reporting from Fox News. Now the Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether one of its own agents accidentally fired Pretti’s gun, triggering a chain of events that ended in his death.
From Protest to Fatal Gunfire
Federal officers were conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis when they encountered protesters described by Fox News as “anti-ICE agitators.” Pretti was in the area and, according to the outlet, moved toward agents after another protester was pushed by law enforcement.
A Fox News review of the video shows an agent disarming Pretti during an initial scuffle. The footage reportedly captures an officer taking a Sig Sauer P320 pistol from Pretti’s possession shortly before the shooting. That pistol was lawfully carried, and Pretti held a permit to do so, Fox News reported.
What happened after that is at the center of the federal inquiry. Pretti was then shot roughly 10 times and died at the scene, according to the same Fox News account. Officials have not publicly released the full video or detailed ballistic findings.
Competing Narratives About the Gun
Initial official statements painted Pretti as the immediate threat. Federal officials first told reporters that he had been “brandishing” a weapon as agents carried out immigration enforcement operations, according to Fox News. That description suggested an armed confrontation initiated by Pretti.
A New York Post report, cited by Fox News, presents a different account from unnamed sources familiar with the investigation. Those sources told the Post that after agents took Pretti’s Sig Sauer P320, the pistol accidentally discharged while in an agent’s hand.
One source told the Post, “It was 100% an accidental discharge by the agent that relieved that person of their weapon. Because everyone’s guns were out, they think that there’s a shooting.” That quote, relayed in the Fox News coverage, describes a chaotic scene in which officers believed they were under fire because of the sound of a gunshot from a weapon they had already seized.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has publicly defended the agents’ actions, offering yet another frame. She told Fox News that Pretti “violently resisted” arrest and that a federal agent fired his weapon “fearing for his life.” Those statements emphasize perceived danger from Pretti, even as other accounts suggest the only initial shot may have come from a gun already in law enforcement custody.
Training, Fatigue, and Use-of-Force Decisions
The sources who spoke with the New York Post, according to Fox News, linked the shooting to broader concerns inside the ranks. They described Border Patrol agents working long hours and being assigned to public-order duties around protests for which they say the officers were not adequately trained.
“None of those agents should’ve had their gun out. It’s a confluence of them being asked to do enforcement work that they are not trained for,” one source said, as quoted by Fox News. Another added, “All of this is avoidable. None of this should be happening.”
Those comments highlight two issues that DHS investigators will likely have to address: First, whether officers followed existing use-of-force and crowd-control policies when they drew their weapons in a protest environment. Second, whether the agents were assigned to duties that did not match their training or experience.
The reported detail that “everyone’s guns were out” when the alleged accidental discharge occurred is significant. If accurate, it suggests that a single unintentional shot from the recovered P320 may have triggered what officers perceived as an attack, prompting multiple agents to fire. Investigators would need to analyze body-camera or surveillance footage, audio recordings, and ballistic evidence to determine the sequence of shots and who fired when.
What DHS Says It Is Investigating
According to Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security has opened an internal investigation into whether U.S. Border Patrol agents believed they were being fired upon when they shot Pretti. That focus centers less on whether bullets were actually coming from Pretti and more on the agents’ perceptions at the moment they chose to shoot.
Legally, that distinction matters. In many use-of-force reviews, investigators examine whether officers reasonably believed they were in danger, even if that belief later turns out to be inaccurate. The account quoted by the New York Post suggests a scenario in which an agent unintentionally fires Pretti’s seized pistol, then other agents respond to the sound of gunfire believing they are under attack.
At the same time, the initial official statement that Pretti was “brandishing” a weapon and Secretary Noem’s characterization of “violent” resistance raise questions about how quickly, and on what basis, federal agencies described Pretti’s actions to the public. Any discrepancy between early statements and video or forensic evidence will likely be a key part of the DHS review.
Evidence Preservation and Judicial Oversight
The stakes of that review are reflected in the parallel court activity already underway. In a related case, a federal judge issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering” evidence connected to the deadly Minneapolis shooting, according to a separate Fox News politics report linked from the original story. That order covers materials such as video, internal communications, and physical evidence.
The existence of such a court order signals judicial concern about preserving a complete record while investigations proceed. It also places legal limits on how federal agencies can handle footage, firearms, and documents related to the shooting.
Former President Bill Clinton, cited in another Fox News story, publicly criticized the administration’s handling of information around federal shootings in Minnesota, saying officials had “told us not to believe what we’ve seen.” That comment, while political, underscores the broader struggle over public trust in official narratives when video evidence circulates independently.
Political Response and Community Impact
In Washington, the White House responded by sending a high-profile immigration figure to Minnesota. Fox News reported that President Donald Trump announced border czar Tom Homan would travel to the state amid what the outlet described as “violent clashes” between federal officers and protesters opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
🚨🇺🇸 TRUMP PULLS BACK ON MINNESOTA ICE RAID DRAMA
After that Alex Pretti shooting turned into total chaos, Tom Homan’s taking over.
The guy’s a vet, and he just might calm things down.
He even called up Gov Walz and Mayor Frey. Said it went great, talking teamwork and maybe… https://t.co/B42UqNDO27 pic.twitter.com/4YSMKhyd6b
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 27, 2026
Pretti’s background as a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse adds another layer of public concern. He was not only legally armed, according to Fox News, but employed in a role that involves caring for patients in critical condition, including military veterans. For many readers, the idea that someone trained to save lives died in a confusing burst of federal gunfire during a protest has become central to the story.
Community advocates and critics of federal enforcement tactics have framed the shooting as a case study in what happens when heavily armed officers, deployed for immigration operations, are thrust into volatile protest settings. Supporters of the agents point to the secretary’s statement about perceived danger and argue that officers must be allowed to protect themselves if they believe they are under fire.
What Remains Unanswered
Several key facts have not yet been publicly detailed. DHS has not released its investigative findings, so it is not clear whether officials have verified the New York Post’s reporting that Pretti’s seized pistol accidentally discharged in an agent’s hand. The precise number of agents who fired, and the timing of each shot, also remain unreleased.
There is no public accounting to date of the specific training the involved agents received in crowd management or protest response, or whether any of them had previously faced discipline or complaints related to the use of force.
Until DHS releases a full report or court records bring more evidence into the open, the official account will sit alongside the video, the anonymous source descriptions, and the preserved but unseen evidence that a federal judge has ordered kept intact. For now, the central questions remain whether the first shot was accidental, who understood what in the seconds that followed, and how much of Pretti’s final moments federal officials were ready to describe before the full record was known.
