Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A federal immigration officer fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

Family: ‘heartbroken but also very angry’

Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the statement said.

“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

Gun rights group ‘deeply concerned’ about shooting

While noting that “many critical facts remain unknown,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement that “there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers” and called for an investigation by both state and federal authorities.

“Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the group said. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

Federal officials have said Pretti was armed and officers fired defensively after he approached them during an operation and resisted attempts to disarm him. However bystander videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon.

The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

Another evening rally at a park near the scene of Saturday’s shooting

People chanted “say his name” in memory of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot earlier in the day by a federal agent.

One speaker called for sit-ins at congressional offices to urge a halt to funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another participant said he believes the tide of public opinion is turning in the protesters’ favor.

Some carried lit candles, and all were bundled up against the frigid nighttime cold.

After about an hour they went to the scene of the shooting. There were chants of “Resisting ICE is not a crime” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”

There were also chants honoring Renee Good, another person who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

Republican chair of House Homeland Security Committee requests ICE, CBP, USCIS appear before Congress

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to the department requesting three top officials appear for questioning before the committee.

“As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a statement. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

Garbarino requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement senior official Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow appear.

The public hearing would take place sometime in the next two months. Garbarino previously requested that senior DHS officials appear before the committee in a Jan. 15 letter.