Was alex pretti carrying a gun when he was shot
Executive summary
Evidence assembled by multiple news organizations shows that Alex Pretti was carrying a handgun at the time federal agents shot him, but crucial questions remain about whether he brandished or reached for that weapon during the encounter; body and bystander video and witness accounts conflict with initial government statements and investigations are ongoing [1] [2] [3].
1. The simple factual frame: a gun was found on Pretti
Federal and mainstream news reporting indicates agents recovered a handgun from Alex Pretti’s person after he was shot; DHS and local briefings told lawmakers and reporters that he possessed a firearm and had a permit to carry [1] [4], and multiple outlets report that an agent removed a handgun from Pretti’s waistband after he was on the ground [3] [2].
2. What federal officials initially said versus what videos show
DHS’s early public description said Pretti “approached” agents with a firearm and that an agent fired “defensive shots,” language the administration used immediately after the killing [4], but subsequent bystander footage and frame‑by‑frame analyses complicate that narrative: some video shows Pretti holding a phone in his right hand and nothing in his left just before shots, and the BBC’s frame‑by‑frame review reached the same conclusion that a clear display or brandish of a weapon in hand was not evident [5]. CBS and Military.com reporting note video that appears to show an agent removing a gun from Pretti’s waistband after he was down, and that investigators have not publicly shown proof the gun was fired in the exchange [2] [3].
3. Conflicting witness accounts and the disputed claim of “brandishing”
Eyewitnesses and civil‑rights advocates contest DHS’s account that Pretti actively posed an imminent threat by brandishing a gun; two witnesses in sworn statements said he did not brandish, and family and advocates argue that even earlier confrontational behavior would not legally justify later lethal force [5] [3]. At the same time, federal notifications to Congress and news reports from outlets including Fox9, the BBC and HuffPost have emphasized that two federal officers fired and that agents believed a firearm was present and relevant to their use of force [1] [6] [7].
4. The forensic gap: what reporting does not yet resolve
Public reporting so far documents retrieval of a handgun from Pretti’s waistband and shows agents firing multiple Glock pistols [8] [1], but investigators have not publicly released full body‑cam footage or a definitive forensic timeline that proves whether the gun was drawn, fired, or used to threaten agents before shots were fired; Military.com and CBS caution the video adds “context” but does not resolve core questions about the moments that precipitated the shooting [3] [2].
5. Bottom line: a qualified answer grounded in available reporting
Based on the available public reporting, Alex Pretti was carrying a legally permitted handgun that agents recovered after the shooting [1] [4], but whether he brandished, reached for, or fired that gun during the confrontation is disputed by bystander video and witness statements and has not been conclusively demonstrated in the public record; the claim that he “approached” agents with it is contested and remains under official and journalistic scrutiny [5] [2] [3].