Alex Pretti’s family learned he had been shot 10 times by federal agents only after recognizing him on television news coverage, his parents revealed in their first joint interview.
The 37-year-old intensive care nurse was fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on January 24 in Minneapolis, and seven months later his father Michael Pretti, mother Susan, and sister Micayla spoke to Good Morning America together publicly for the first time. The family had not been notified by authorities before seeing footage of the shooting broadcast.
Instead of receiving official word, Susan Pretti recognized her son by his jacket and sunglasses as she watched news reports. “That’s how we found out, watching it on TV. Watching our son be shot ten times on TV,” Michael Pretti said in the interview. “In the back,” Susan added.
Susan Pretti expressed that her shock was not at her son’s impulse to help others, but at the violence done to him and the absence of consequences. “I was not shocked that he helped somebody. My shock is that he was murdered and no one has given us the complete truth or anyone has been held accountable. And it’s been seven months,” she said.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office released autopsy results on February 2, which were, ruling Pretti’s death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. The Department of Homeland Security maintained in a statement posted to X that the agent had been “fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”
Witness accounts and footage from the scene contradicted the official narrative. Video showed Pretti wrestled to the ground with his legal firearm removed from him before 10 shots were fired into him. Additional footage around the time of the incident showed Pretti holding a mobile phone rather than a gun, despite DHS claims that he had displayed a handgun.
Pretti’s sister Micayla addressed the spread of misinformation about her brother in a public statement. “Hearing disgusting lies spread about my brother is absolutely gut-wrenching, and my family is deeply grateful so many people have stood up and helped tell his truth. He would be very proud,” she said.
Michael Pretti described his son as a man motivated by care for his community. “He cared deeply about his community. Minneapolis was his community. He wanted people to be treated fairly, no matter what walk of life, what their background was,” he said. He noted that Alex had been observing immigration activity when the shooting occurred because of that commitment.
Susan Pretti directly challenged the lack of criminal charges against the agents involved. “What did he do to deserve to be murdered? To be left cold, on the ground, dead, my child? What did he do?,” she asked. She continued, “They murdered our child. People need to be held responsible when they murder people in this country. Period.”
In the viral moment that preceded the family’s interview, Pretti’s death on January 24 came amid protests over ICE presence in Minneapolis and marked the second highly publicized killing by immigration agents in weeks. Renee Good, 38, had been shot by an ICE officer while in her car on January 7 in Maine, with DHS also stating that the officer had been “fearing for public safety.” The back-to-back killings intensified scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics and the justification of lethal force.
The Pretti family is continuing to demand accountability as the investigation remains ongoing seven months after the shooting.