Alex Pretti's rib broke in confrontation with federal agents a week before death: report

The earlier confrontation began when Alex Pretti stopped his car after observing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chasing what he described as a family on foot

Published: January 27, 2026 12:52pm

Updated: January 27, 2026 1:24pm

Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old who was fatally shot Saturday by a Customs and Border Protection agent, purportedly sustained a broken rib in a confrontation with federal agents a week before his death, according to a news report Tuesday.

The earlier confrontation began when Pretti stopped his car after observing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chasing what he described as a family on foot and started shouting and blowing his whistle, an anonymous source told CNN.

Pretti later told the source that five agents tackled him and one leaned on his back, which left him with a broken rib. The agents quickly released him at the scene.

“That day, he thought he was going to die,” the source said.

According to records reviewed by CNN, Pretti was later given medication consistent with treating a broken rib.

It is unclear whether the federal agents who encountered Pretti on Saturday recognized him before confronting him.

Pretti, an ICU nurse who worked for a veterans' hospital, was pinned to the ground in Minneapolis by a group of federal officers, according to Trump administration officials. 

The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Pretti rushed at the agents with a gun in hand, but videos taken by bystanders appear to only show him holding his phone.

One video of the fatal shooting appears to show an agent removing a pistol from Pretti’s waistband seconds before 10 gunshots are fired, killing him. Pretti had a permit and was legally allowed to conceal carry.

DHS didn't respond to CNN's request for comment.

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