Pakistan-born doctor mourns ICU nurse Alex Pretti, shot by federal agents in Minnesota: ‘Senseless carnage…’

A Pakistan-born doctor based in New York has spoken of her shock and grief after a former colleague, ICU nurse Alex Pretti, was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis. She called the killing “senseless carnage”.Aasma Shaukat is a gastroenterologist and clinical researcher who posted on X after learning of Pretti’s death. “One of my former research assistants was killed by ICE in Minneapolis today,” she wrote. She added: “Alex was the kindest, sweetest human and a ICU nurse with a bright future ahead of him. May his soul rest in peace and this senseless carnage stop.”

37-year-old Pretti was shot on Saturday about two kilometres from his home. According to law enforcement officials, US Border Patrol agents were involved following a scuffle. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Pretti was carrying a 9mm handgun and that he posed a threat to officers. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said authorities believe he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry firearms. Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist”. His family rejected that account. In a statement shared with The Washington Post, they said the description was made up of “sickening lies” and was “reprehensible and disgusting”. The family said Pretti had been trying to protect a woman who was pushed down by immigration agents.The shooting sparked protests and clashes near the scene, which prompted the federal agents to use tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse the crowds.Pretti was an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital, where he cared for American veterans. “Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse,” his family said.Shaukat said she first met Pretti about a decade ago when she hired him as a research assistant at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. “Alex was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul you ever met,” she said. She added that Alex was a team player: “He was very bright-eyed, bushy-tailed. He wanted to get into the health care field, work with patients and be a nurse.” After completing nursing school, Pretti returned to the Minneapolis VA as an ICU nurse. “He wanted to serve the veterans, just had a high sense of duty and thought they were a vulnerable group in the country who needed our help,” Shaukat said.She added that Pretti was hopeful about his future and wanted a place of his own and a car.Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti, told the Associated Press that he had warned his son to be careful during protests.Pretti graduated from the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts in 2011 and lived in a quiet neighbourhood in south Minneapolis.Shaukat was born in Pakistan and grew up in Lahore before moving to the United States, is now a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone.Colleagues said Pretti had an earlier tussle with a federal agent. Joshua Green, a co-worker, recalled that Pretti had previously come to work with a bandage on his eye, saying he had been struck by an immigration agent during another encounter. Green said Pretti had spoken about protesting after the recent shooting of Renée Good, who was also shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.