Two federal law enforcement officers fired their weapons during the Minneapolis encounter that left 37-year-old Alex Pretti dead on Saturday.
A Department of Homeland Security memo given to Congress shows that two officers — one Border Patrol agent and one Customs and Border Protection officer — fired shots at Pretti during the encounter, according to multiple reports. The memo does not specifically say which officer fired the fatal shots.
The DHS report detailing the fatal shooting incident was part of CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigation into the encounter.
“CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued,” the report read, according to CNN. “During the struggle, a (Border Patrol agent) yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times.”
“Approximately five seconds later, a (Border Patrol agent) discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a (Customs and Border Protection officer) also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti,” the report read.
DHS previously said a single Border Patrol agent fatally shot Pretti, a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, who was protesting against ICE in Minneapolis on Saturday. Pretti was carrying a gun around his waist when the encounter occurred.
Videos of the encounter appear to capture a Border Patrol agent taking Pretti’s firearm from him before Pretti was fatally shot. The report does specify that the two federal officers fired shots with “CBP-issued” guns.
“These notifications reflect standard Customs and Border Protection protocol and are issued in accordance with existing procedures. They provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings. They are factual reports — not analytical judgments — and are provided to inform Congress and to promote transparency,” a CBP spokesperson said.
TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION FOOTING COMES UNSTUCK AS MINNESOTA SHOOTING TURNS INTO ‘OPERATION CLUSTERF***’
President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Pretti “shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”
“I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines,” Trump said. “That’s a lot of bad stuff, and despite that, I say that’s a very unfortunate incident.”
