Two Border Patrol agents fired their guns during the fatal shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend, according to an initial report from the Department of Homeland Security.
The report from Customs and Border Protection, shared with congressional officials on Tuesday and obtained by CBS News, states that an officer repeatedly yelled about Pretti having a gun before two agents opened fire.
The report, which was based on a “preliminary review” conducted by the CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, contradicts a Saturday statement from the DHS indicating that “an agent fired defensive shots” at Pretti. The DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.
The report states that Customs and Border Protection officers (CBPO) were confronted by two women blowing whistles on Saturday morning. Officers told the women to get off the road but they refused, according to the report.
“The CBPO pushed them both away and one of the females ran to a male, later identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen,” it says. “The CBPO attempted to move the woman and Pretti out of the roadway. The woman and Pretti did not move,” at which point the officer used pepper spray on both individuals.
“CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, a BPA (Border Patrol agent) yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times,” it went on. “Approximately five seconds later, a BPA discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a CBPO also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”
After the shooting, CBP personnel cut Pretti’s clothing and provided medical aid by placing chest seals on his wounds, the report stated. Emergency medical services arrived minutes later.
A Border Patrol agent said he was in possession of Pretti’s firearm, according to the report, which added that the agent “subsequently cleared and secured Pretti’s firearm in his vehicle.”
The report does not specify whether the bullets fired by both officers hit Pretti.
Administration officials were quick to demonize Pretti after his death, even as the DHS acknowledged that an investigation was ongoing.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Pretti of committing “domestic terrorism.” Top White House aide Stephen Miller described Pretti as “a domestic terrorist” who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.” Recently demoted Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino claimed Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
But Trump broke from his own officials and tried to strike a softer tone on Tuesday, though he continued to insist that Pretti should not have been armed.
The Trump administration’s hardline immigration blitz in Minneapolis has now killed two American citizens: Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three who was also 37.
The killings have ignited a firestorm in Minnesota, where officials have called on Trump to pull out ICE. The president responded to those calls by benching Noem and putting Border Czar Tom Homan in charge of immigration operations in Minneapolis.
“They met with the governor and the mayor and everybody else,” Trump told Fox News’ Will Cain. “And we’re going to de-escalate a little bit.”
Earlier on Tuesday, however, Trump maintained that “you can’t have guns.”
“You can’t walk in with guns, you just can’t,” he told reporters. “You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that.”
But the National Association for Gun Rights believes Trump was incorrect.
“The president is wrong,” Dudley Brown, the association’s president, told the Daily Beast. “While you don’t have the right to impede law enforcement, clearly you have every right to carry the tools for self-defense in public.”
