Two officers fired guns in Minneapolis killing: US govt report
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The shooting sparked bipartisan condemnation and fresh protests in Minneapolis.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - Two federal officers fired their weapons during the fatal weekend shooting of nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, according to a Department of Homeland Security report to Congress published on Dec 27 by US media.
The shooting sparked bipartisan condemnation and fresh protests in Minneapolis, and President Donald Trump on Jan 27 called for an “honourable and honest investigation” into the matter.
He also suggested he would “de-escalate a little bit” the administration’s immigration crackdown in the city.
The initial report says a US Border Patrol officer yelled, “He’s got a gun” multiple times as agents struggled with Mr Pretti on an icy Minneapolis street, moments before two agents opened fire.
“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 says.
The report does not say whether bullets from both officers hit Mr Pretti, and does not specify how many shots were fired.
It makes no mention of whether Mr Pretti brandished his gun, as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem suggested in the aftermath of the shooting.
Video footage from witnesses showed Mr Pretti holding his phone and filming agents before he was sprayed by a chemical irritant and taken to the ground by federal agents.
The footage showed one agent pull a gun from Mr Pretti’s waist before the officers opened fire.
The report says a Border Patrol agent after the shooting said he had Mr Pretti’s gun and “subsequently cleared and secured Pretti’s firearm in his vehicle.”
DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations, the report says, is investigating the shooting.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have called for a thorough investigation into the incident, and Republican Senator Rand Paul said Jan 27 that agents involved in the shooting should be put on administrative leave.
Mr Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller – who leads Mr Trump’s hardline immigration policy – told AFP that the agents may have breached “protocol”
The White House later said Mr Miller was referring to “general guidance” to immigration agents operating in Minnesota, not the specific incident involving Mr Pretti. AFP
