Was preti fired from his job
Executive summary
There is no credible evidence that Alex Pretti (sometimes reported as Pretti) was fired from his job as an ICU nurse; multiple fact-checking pieces trace the claim to fabricated reports and say the firing allegation is false [1] [2]. Reporting available to this analysis does not show an employer statement confirming dismissal, and the parents’ public statement cited Pretti’s VA employment without saying he had quit or been fired [2] [1].
1. The claim and where it came from
Social posts and copied news items claimed that Alex Pretti had been fired from his Veterans Affairs hospital ICU job before the fatal shooting in Minneapolis; those claims were seeded by a fake news article on a site called buzzreport247 and then amplified on social media [1] [2]. Hindustan Times reporting identifies the fabricated origin and notes that the story’s specifics — that parents said he quit or showed “unusual behavior” — trace back to that bogus article rather than any primary source or verified interview [2] [1].
2. What reputable reporting found
Investigations by mainstream outlets that examined the viral posts concluded the firing claim was untrue: Hindustan Times’ fact checks say the online assertion that he was fired is false and that the image and text being circulated were tied to misinformation rather than hospital records or official statements [1]. Another Hindustan Times piece examining whether he had quit likewise found no video or verified reporting of his parents saying he resigned months earlier and emphasized that the parents’ formal statement only referenced his VA work without claiming he had left it [2].
3. What the public record does — and does not — show
Available reporting confirms Pretti was identified as an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital in statements released by his family and widely cited in news accounts, but those statements did not include admission of resignation or termination [2] [1]. There is no contemporaneous, verifiable employer announcement or personnel record presented in the articles provided here that documents a firing, and major outlets treating the claim have labelled it misinformation [1] [2].
4. Motives, amplification and the dangers of viral narratives
The debunking pieces point to a common pattern: sensationalized, easily shareable allegations about a publicized death spread rapidly, and sites that traffic in fabricated scoops can create a narrative vacuum that social media fills, often with politically or emotionally loaded interpretations [1]. Hindustan Times explicitly links the false firing story to a fabricated source and highlights how that site’s claims were republished or summarized without independent verification [1] [2]. The incentive structure for such misinformation is clear: sensational claims drive clicks and shares even when they lack documentary support [1].
5. Alternative viewpoints and limits of available evidence
No credible source in the provided reporting corroborates the firing claim, but the absence of a published HR record in these articles means the question cannot be closed with absolute finality on administrative technicalities; reporting shows only that the viral claim lacks evidence and originated from a fake report rather than authoritative documentation [2] [1]. The family’s statement confirming his VA employment stops short of saying he was fired or had quit, and fact-checkers view that silence as a reason to reject the viral allegation rather than as affirmative proof of continuous employment [2] [1].
6. Bottom line
Based on the reporting examined, the assertion that Pretti was fired is false: the claim originated from a fabricated website and has been debunked by fact-checking reporters, while no verified employer statement or documentation has been published to substantiate a firing [1] [2]. That said, the publicly available articles do not include raw personnel records from the VA, so the assessment rests on the lack of credible evidence and the presence of a traced misinformation trail [1] [2].