In the wake of a tragic and controversial shooting that has gripped the United States and sparked nationwide debate over federal law enforcement tactics, a Minneapolis woman who captured the fatal moments of Alex Pretti’s death has broken her silence, providing a harrowing first-hand account of what she witnessed. Identified in local reports as Stella Carlson, the witness says she filmed the encounter in which 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration agents during an enforcement operation on January 24 in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. Carlson described her emotional and traumatic experience, saying simply, “I watched him die,” and emphasized that the footage she recorded shows Pretti was calm and posed no immediate threat at the time of the shooting. Her decision to speak out comes amid deep community shock and growing calls for transparency and accountability from law enforcement.
The released videos and witness statements, including those by Carlson, directly challenge the initial narrative offered by federal officials that Pretti had presented a violent threat. Instead, bystander footage — now widely shared and corroborated in multiple news reports — appears to show Pretti holding his phone when he was confronted by agents, raising his hands after being pepper-sprayed and attempting to assist a woman who had been shoved to the ground. This sequence of events has fueled public skepticism and intense criticism of the Department of Homeland Security’s account. Pretti, a U.S. citizen and licensed handgun carrier, did not draw his weapon according to the footage and witness testimony, yet was shot multiple times at close range.