Was Alex Pretti actively working as an icu nurse
Executive summary
All available, credible reporting indicates Alex Jeffrey Pretti was an active intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System at the time of his death; state records show a Minnesota nursing license issued in 2021 that remained active into 2026, and multiple news organizations and nursing unions described him as working in the VA ICU [1] [2] [3]. Viral online claims that he had been fired for misconduct were traced to a fabricated report and have been debunked by fact-checkers [4] [5] [6].
1. Who the reporting identifies Pretti to be: an ICU nurse at the VA
Major outlets and reporting describe Pretti as a registered nurse who worked in the intensive care unit at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, caring for critically ill veterans; colleagues and union statements presented him consistently in that role (BBC, The Guardian, Military.com, and AFGE statements) [7] [8] [9] [3].
2. Licensing and workplace status in public records and union statements
State licensing records cited by ABC News and other outlets show Pretti was issued a Minnesota nursing license in 2021 and that the license remained active into 2026, and the AFGE local representing Minneapolis VA staff affirmed he was an ICU nurse at the VA at the time of his death [1] [3].
3. How the “fired” narrative surfaced and why it lacks evidence
A viral claim that Pretti had been fired for misconduct originated on a site called buzzreport247 and relied on a fabricated named source and a nonexistent affiliation; multiple fact-checks and mainstream outlets concluded there is no evidence he was ever employed at the listed private facility or fired from the VA, and characterized the story as fabricated misinformation (Hindustan Times, Times Now, IBTimes) [4] [5] [6].
4. Testimony from colleagues, unions and advocacy groups about his role
Colleagues and professional organizations described Pretti as a dedicated ICU nurse who had worked at the Minneapolis VA for several years and who returned to clinical nursing after additional education and research work; nursing unions and associations issued statements identifying him as VA ICU staff and called for investigations and policy changes after his death [8] [9] [10] [3].
5. Points of uncertainty and limits of available reporting
Reporting consistently ties Pretti to the VA ICU and an active license, but public-facing summaries do not provide internal VA personnel files or a daily work schedule to independently verify whether he was on active clinical duty the exact day of the shooting; those granular personnel records are not present in the cited reporting, so confirmation rests on licensing records, union statements and contemporaneous news reporting rather than direct VA HR documentation in the public record [1] [3] [2].
6. Bottom line — answering the core question
Given consistent reporting from multiple reputable outlets, public state nursing-license data, and union and colleague statements, the preponderance of evidence supports that Alex Pretti was actively employed and identified as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA at the time of his death; counterclaims that he had been fired are unsupported and were traced to fabricated sources [1] [3] [4] [5].