ICU nurse in Minneapolis shot by ICE?
Executive summary
Yes — multiple news outlets report that the man shot and killed in Minneapolis during a federal immigration enforcement action on Jan. 24, 2026, was identified by his family as 37‑year‑old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, and federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security were involved in the shooting [1] [2].
1. The identification: who was the victim
Family members and several news organizations identified the deceased as Alex Pretti, age 37, and reported he worked as an intensive care unit nurse; those identifications were relayed to media by his parents and corroborated across outlets including the Associated Press and local outlets [1] [3] [2].
2. Which agency fired the shots — ICE, Border Patrol, or DHS?
Reporting describes the shooters as federal immigration officers tied to the Department of Homeland Security, with some outlets specifying U.S. Border Patrol or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) roles in the operation; federal briefings and coverage refer to both Border Patrol agents and ICE personnel being part of the enforcement activity, and the agencies held their own briefing about the incident [4] [5] [6].
3. Conflicting accounts of what happened at the scene
Federal officials released an account saying an armed individual approached agents, “violently resisted” disarmament and that an agent fired “defensive shots,” while bystander video and some local reporting show scenes that conflict with parts of that narrative — for example, footage cited by local news appears to show the man not holding a weapon at the precise moment he was shot, which federal spokespeople disputed in their briefing [7] [8] [5].
4. Official and procedural follow‑up
Minneapolis police and local authorities requested the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s force investigations unit to investigate the federal‑agent‑involved shooting; federal officials also briefed media and said medical aid was provided, though video and witness accounts prompted immediate scrutiny and calls for independent oversight [5] [3].
5. Public and political response
The killing inflamed an already tense local scene after a prior federal‑agent fatal shooting in January; governors, members of Congress and activists immediately reacted — some demanded ICE leave the state and called for accountability for federal actions, while national political figures amplified images and claims about a recovered firearm and the circumstances, intensifying debate over federal enforcement tactics [4] [9] [6].
6. Evidence, ambiguity, and limits of current reporting
What is established in multiple reports is that a 37‑year‑old ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, was shot and killed during a federal immigration enforcement action and that federal agents were the shooters [1] [2]; what remains contested in contemporaneous coverage are key factual details of the moments leading to the shooting — whether Pretti had a weapon in hand at the moment of the shot, how agents describe his resistance, and whether video fully matches agency statements — and those disputes are visible in the differing accounts from federal briefings, bystander footage and local reporters [7] [8] [5].
7. Why the distinction between ICE and Border Patrol matters
The labels used by outlets matter because Border Patrol and ICE are distinct components of DHS with different patrol roles and rules of engagement; some reports emphasize Border Patrol involvement while others say ICE or generically “federal immigration officers,” and that inconsistency has fueled confusion and political arguments even as investigations proceed [6] [5].
Conclusion
Based on the reporting assembled, the concise answer is: yes — a man identified by family as ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during an operation on Jan. 24, 2026; important factual elements surrounding the shooting are disputed across official statements, video evidence and local reporting and are subject to an ongoing investigation [1] [5] [8].