How have VA colleagues and hospital records documented Alex Pretti’s tenure and duties at the Minneapolis VA?
Executive summary
VA colleagues and public records portray Alex Pretti as a long‑time Minneapolis VA employee who transitioned from research work into bedside critical‑care nursing, serving as an ICU nurse while also assisting with clinical research; coworkers uniformly described him as kind, dedicated and skilled, and state licensing and VA statements corroborate his active nursing role [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting also shows the hospital role and tenure have been used to rebut viral claims that he had been fired for misconduct—claims that VA colleagues and multiple fact‑checks say are false or unsubstantiated [5] [6].
1. A VA career that began in research and moved to the ICU
Multiple outlets report that Pretti's employment at the Minneapolis VA began in 2014 as a research assistant and that he later returned to school to become a registered nurse, then worked in the VA intensive‑care unit—details confirmed by colleagues, interviews and public records [1] [7] [8].
2. Licensed nurse status documented in state and hospital records
State records cited by news organizations show Pretti obtained a Minnesota nursing license in January 2021 and that the license was active through at least March 31, 2026, a fact repeatedly referenced in reporting as formal evidence of his professional credentials while employed at the Minneapolis VA [3] [9] [10].
3. Clinical duties: bedside ICU care for veterans
Colleagues and veterans described Pretti’s day‑to‑day duties as providing critical care to veterans in the VA ICU; veterans and a physician who worked with him attested that he supported critically ill patients and was valued for his bedside manner and clinical commitment [5] [8] [10].
4. Continued involvement in VA research and trial recruitment
Beyond bedside nursing, VA staff say Pretti continued to assist with scientific work—he was described as helping recruit for a clinical trial and having worked with VA infectious‑disease researchers, a dual clinical‑research role that multiple colleagues and VA physicians noted [11] [3] [10].
5. Colleagues’ character testimony: consistent, public praise
Senior VA clinicians and coworkers—most prominently Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, chief of infectious diseases at the Minneapolis VA—publicly remembered Pretti as “kind,” “outstanding” and “deeply committed to patient care,” language repeated across outlets and used by veterans and union representatives to underscore his professional reputation [11] [3] [4].
6. Union membership and community reaction contextualize his VA role
Reporting notes Pretti was a member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local that represents Minneapolis VA employees, and that veterans and colleagues reacted strongly to his death because he was known within that professional community as an ICU nurse who cared for veterans—context that anchors his duties in both employment records and workplace identity [12] [1] [9].
7. Hospital records and colleagues used to rebut viral misconduct claims
After the shooting, false online stories alleged he’d been fired for misconduct; multiple fact‑checks and VA‑connected colleagues refuted those claims, emphasizing that he was employed at the Minneapolis VA, not the unrelated facilities named in fabrications, and that there is no public record supporting the alleged termination narrative [5] [6] [2].
8. Limits of available documentation and outstanding questions
Public reporting reliably documents employment start date, licensing and dual research/ICU duties and captures colleagues’ testimonials, but the sources provided do not include internal VA personnel files, performance reviews or a full public timeline of every VA role—those internal documents are not cited in the reporting available and thus cannot be confirmed here [1] [8].
Conclusion
Taken together, VA colleagues’ statements and public records in contemporary news reporting consistently describe Alex Pretti as a licensed ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA who had earlier worked in VA research, who continued to assist with trials, and who was widely regarded by coworkers as dedicated and skilled; these same sources and independent fact‑checks have been used to counter viral allegations that he had been fired for misconduct, while noting that internal personnel files are not publicly available in the cited reporting [1] [3] [5] [6].