ICE agents shoot dead Alex Jeffrey Pretti. Did he pull a gun? What videos show

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year old nurse, was reportedly shot and killed by the federal agents during a Minneapolis immigration crackdown. As videos of the shooting emerged, chatter broke out on social media over claims on whether Pretti pulled a gun on ICE/Border Patrol agents during the incident.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him, the Associated Press reported.

However, in bystander videos of the shooting, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon, the report added.

Meanwhile, a CNN analysis of a video appeared to show a federal immigration officer removing a gun from Alex Pretti just prior to officers fatally shooting him.

At no point in any of the videos reviewed by CNN can Pretti be seen wielding a weapon; he is seen carrying a cellphone in one hand earlier in the encounter.

The video showed one officer reaching into the scrum of other officers seeking to restrain Pretti and retrieving a weapon that appears to match the firearm the Department of Homeland Security says Pretti possessed.

Officers can be heard shouting “he’s got a gun” when the unidentified officer reaches into Pretti’s waistband as the pile of officers try to subdue him.

Just over one second after the officer emerges holding the weapon, a shot rings out, followed by at least nine more, according to videos and the CNN's analysis.

The videos show that the officer who retrieved the weapon had nothing in his hand prior to approaching Pretti. It is unclear from the videos reviewed by CNN whether the officer who took the weapon from Pretti told the others once he had taken it away. It is also unclear which agent first fired at Pretti.

'Fearing for his life'

In a statement, DHS claimed that an officer fired on Pretti, 37, while fearing for his life: “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted...Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”

The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti was believed to be a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. It was reported that Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.