How many police shootings occurred in Minnesota after the suspect was disarmed
Executive summary
Reporting indicates multiple recent federal-agent shootings in Minneapolis and the surrounding area, but only one of those incidents— the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Alex Pretti—has publicly available video and independent analysis suggesting the weapon was removed from the suspect’s waistband before officers fired [1] [2]. Other recent federal-involved shootings in Minnesota are reported in the press, but the available coverage does not establish that those suspects were disarmed before being shot [3] [4] [5].
1. One widely reported case shows a weapon retrieved before shots were fired
Multiple outlets and video analysts reported that in the Jan. 24 Minneapolis shooting of Alex Pretti a federal agent is seen removing a handgun from Pretti’s waistband and that body and bystander video analyzed so far show the firearm being pulled before the fatal gunfire — a fact highlighted in reporting by ABC News and FactCheck.org and summarized in contemporaneous news accounts [1] [2] [6].
2. The state of the evidence: video, agency claims, and independent review are at odds
Federal officials initially characterized the encounter as defensive and said Pretti “resisted disarmament,” while independent video review and fact-checkers say early DHS assertions were not supported by the publicly available footage; FactCheck.org specifically notes discrepancies between DHS statements and what bystander video depicts [2] [1].
3. Other recent Minnesota shootings are documented, but not shown to involve disarmament-first
News outlets and local officials describe at least two other federal-involved shootings in the same period — the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good and another wounding roughly a week later — and several pieces place the Pretti shooting as the third in a short span, but those reports do not provide public video evidence that the suspects in those earlier incidents were disarmed prior to being shot [3] [4] [5].
4. how journalists and investigators count “after the suspect was disarmed” matters
Counting incidents “after the suspect was disarmed” requires clear definitions and evidentiary standards: some accounts treat the moment an officer takes possession of a weapon as “disarmed,” while others emphasize whether the subject was secured, compliant, or no longer a threat; the public record for Minnesota’s recent cases only clearly documents the sequence (weapon removed then shots) in the Pretti footage that fact-checkers and multiple outlets have analyzed [2] [1].
5. Legal and investigatory responses complicate the public record
State officials pushed to investigate and preserve evidence after the Pretti shooting, filing suits and obtaining court orders to prevent destruction or alteration of materials; the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and local prosecutors sought access while federal agents initially controlled the scene — circumstances that have limited independent review and contributed to competing narratives about the sequence of force [6] [7] [8].
6. Bottom line and reporting limits
Based on the provided reporting, one high-profile Minneapolis shooting (Alex Pretti, Jan. 24) is documented by publicly available video and independent analyses as involving an officer removing a firearm from the subject before shots were fired, whereas other recent federal-agent shootings in Minnesota are reported but not shown in the sources to have the same sequence; available sources do not support asserting additional confirmed cases of “shootings after the suspect was disarmed” beyond the Pretti incident without further evidence [2] [3] [4] [5].