How the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis unfolded

MINNEAPOLIS – Federal agents shot and

killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, Mr Alex Pretti,

at about 9am local time on Jan 24.

A video shared with The New York Times by an eyewitness and her lawyer, as well as other video footage posted on social media, documents the scene, where agents appear to fire at least 10 shots within five seconds.

The footage appears to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) account of the event, which the agency said began after the victim approached the federal agents with a handgun and the intent to “massacre” them.

48 seconds before shooting

Videos show a small group of civilians standing in the middle of a street where a person is detained on the ground; the civilians are speaking to federal agents. Mr Pretti appears to be filming the scene, and he walks closer to the federal agents while holding his phone.

25 seconds before

Leading up to this moment, one agent shoves two people away from a DHS vehicle and into the street. Mr Pretti attempts to put himself between the DHS agent and the two civilians, and the agent pushes one of them to the ground. The video shows the same agent squirting pepper spray in the direction of Mr Pretti’s face. (This agent later fires shots at Mr Pretti.)

Mr Pretti holds his phone in one hand, and raises his other hand to protect against the spray.

17 seconds before

Several agents grab at Mr Pretti, who is still holding his phone. Additional agents approach and attempt to pin him to the ground.

11 seconds before

Mr Pretti is surrounded by seven agents, some of whom have wrestled him to the ground. One agent, wearing a grey coat, approaches the fray with empty hands and grabs at Mr Pretti, while other agents hold him down on his knees. At the same time, another agent strikes Mr Pretti repeatedly with a pepper-spray canister.

1 second before

The agent in the grey coat appears to pull a gun from near Mr Pretti’s right hip. He then begins to move away from the skirmish with the recovered weapon.

At the same time, another agent unholsters his firearm and points it at Mr Pretti’s back.

First shot fired

The agent in the grey coat removes the weapon, which matches the profile of a gun DHS says belonged to Mr Pretti, from the scene. Then, while Mr Pretti is on his knees and restrained, the agent standing directly above him appears to fire one shot at Mr Pretti at close range. He immediately fires three additional shots.

Additional shots fired

Several agents move away from Mr Pretti, who collapses. Another agent – the same one who shoved the civilians into the street and sprayed Mr Pretti with pepper spray – unholsters his gun and fires at him. The first agent also fires additional shots. Together, they fire six more shots at Mr Pretti while he lies motionless on the ground.

At least 10 shots appear to be fired within five seconds. By the time of the 10th shot, the agent who moved away with the recovered weapon has crossed the street.

Mr Pretti is the second person to have been shot and killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis in recent weeks. Footage of his death was posted on social media accounts almost immediately after the shooting.

The DHS said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and that an agent fired “defensive shots”.

Another incident in Minneapolis in January, in which a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg by a federal agent, was also characterised as “defensive” by the department.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz disputed the claims by federal officials that Mr Pretti had posed a threat. He accused “the most powerful people in the federal government” of “spinning stories and putting up pictures”.

Mr Brian O’Hara, the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, said Mr Pretti was a US citizen with no criminal record and had a valid firearms permit. Under Minnesota law, citizens can legally carry a handgun in public, without concealment, if they have a permit.

Large crowds of protesters have gathered at the site of Mr Pretti’s shooting. Mr Walz has authorised the deployment of the Minnesota National Guard, who will wear neon reflective vests to differentiate themselves from federal agents. NYTIMES