Alex Pretti’s Parents Reveal the Last Time They Spoke to Their Son Before He Was Fatally Shot

The parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot multiple times and killed by United States Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, are opening up about their late son.

In their first lengthy interview since Pretti’s death, Michael and Susan Pretti looked back on the life of their son. “There was no reason he should have died that day,” Susan told the New York Times on Tuesday, February 10.

On January 24, Pretti was shot amid the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. According to various videos of the incident, Pretti was pinned on the street by multiple federal agents after it appeared he was using his phone to record the scene. He was reportedly pepper-sprayed and disarmed of a gun (he had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota). He was then shot at multiple times and declared dead at the scene.

“It’s so clear as to what happened,” Michael said, referring to footage of his son’s death.

While Michael and Susan said that they didn’t often talk politics with Alex, they knew he was upset about the recent immigration crackdown being enforced by President Donald Trump and his administration.

During one conversation with his parents, according to Michael, “He said, ‘Mom, they’re kidnapping kids. Why would anybody do that? Why would people treat each other like that? That just doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason to.’”

Before Alex’s death, he told his parents about a prior confrontation he had with federal agents that occurred on January 13, the New York Times reported — and Michael and Susan had always told him to be cautious.

“We really ramped up, ‘Be careful,’” Michael said, adding that his son said, “I will.”

Alex’s parents last spoke to him a day before his death, when he called that Friday to tell them that his garage door (which was broken) had been fixed.

After seeing video footage of his death, his parents said he was selfless in his “last act on this earth.”

“His last thought,” Michael said, “was to help this woman.”

“It’s who he was, every day,” Susan added. “He’s the same Alex he always was.”

Trump, 79, previously stated (via CBS News) that he wants an “honorable and honest” investigation into Pretti’s death and will be “watching over it,” adding: “I have to see it myself.”