Alex Pretti shooting video: A minute-by-minute timeline of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis
As federal officers piled on top of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street on Saturday morning, at least five bystanders used their phones to record the encounter.
Those videos have been reviewed and verified by ABC News, and do not appear to support assertions by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that Pretti "approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun" and "attacked" officers carrying out immigration duties.
At no point in the videos does it appear that Pretti draws his weapon, which the Minneapolis Police said he was legally authorized to carry. The videos appear to show that Pretti was pinned on the street by multiple federal agents -- one of whom was apparently hitting him -- when one of the officers can be seen leaving the scrum with what appears to be a gun that looks like the one Pretti was said to be carrying.
The interaction began at least three minutes before the first shot was fired, as Pretti was holding his phone, appearing to be recording video of federal agents carrying out an arrest nearby, according to eyewitness videos.
The encounter escalated after one of the federal officers shouted at a nearby civilian, pushing the person towards Pretti. Pretti appeared to intervene when the officer shoved another civilian, followed by the officer shooting pepper spray at Pretti and pulling him into the street.
As Pretti is being held down on the street by officers, one of the agents is seen in multiple verified videos emerging from the group of officers on top of Pretti with a handgun that appears to match the weapon federal officials say Pretti was carrying. Before the first shot is fired, another agent can be seen drawing his own handgun, while another repeatedly hits Pretti.
More than a minute after Pretti was shot, the officer who appeared to emerge with Pretti's weapon later returned to the scene and told other officers, "I got the gun. I got the gun."
In total, 10 shots were fired in less than five seconds, according to a forensic audio analysis of the videos conducted for ABC News. Pretti was declared dead on the scene.
"What the videos depict is that this guy did not walk up to anybody from CBP in a threatening manner," said former acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence John Cohen, a police trainer and ABC News contributor. "For [ DHS ] to construe that he arrived at that location with the intent to shoot those border patrol officers, there's nothing in the video evidence that we've seen thus far that would support that."
This is a timeline based on five different verified videos of the incident.
8:58:11 a.m. -- Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave. in Minnesota, in what appears to be an apparent attempt to record a nearby detention by immigration authorities.
8:58:22 a.m. -- A second federal officer carrying a canister of pepper spray approaches Pretti, who continues to hold up his phone.
8:58:29 a.m. -- One federal officer appears to push Pretti towards the sidewalk.
8:59:08 a.m. -- Another eyewitness begins recording the incident, showing Pretti continuing to lift his phone towards officers, as they appear to detain someone in the street.
8:59:24 a.m. -- Pretti is seen lifting a phone towards the officers as they move a detainee into a nearby vehicle.
9:00:12 a.m. -- Pretti continues to lift his phone towards nearby federal officers as they interact with two unidentified individuals, one with an orange backpack and another in a parka.
9:00:21 a.m. -- The two individuals, who were later pepper-sprayed alongside Pretti, speak with a federal agent. Several people honk and whistle. "Watch out for that car," the officer says as a car passes the group.
9:00:41 a.m. -- Three different cameras capture the next interaction. The officer shouts at one of the civilians, "Do not push them into traffic," and pushes them towards Pretti. Pretti continues to raise his phone towards the officers.
9:00:44 a.m. -- The individual who was pushed appears to hold onto Pretti as the federal officer approaches them.
9:00:45 a.m. -- The federal officer appears to push Pretti.
9:00:47 a.m. -- The officer is seen pushing the individual with the orange backpack.
9:00:50 a.m. -- The officer uses pepper spray on Pretti, and Pretti appears to raise his hand towards the officer to get between the officer and the person with the backpack, but the officer immediately pepper-sprays him. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, it appears Pretti used his hand in an attempt to signal that he was not a threat to officers.
9:00:53 a.m. -- The officer pepper-sprays the other two civilians again.
9:00:54 a.m. -- After being sprayed, Pretti appears to fall into the person with the backpack and possibly grab that person to stabilize himself.
9:00:56 a.m. -- The federal officer appears to pull Pretti into the street, appearing to tug him by the hood of his coat.
9:01:02 a.m. -- Three officers hold down Pretti, while another group of officers surrounds Pretti. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, the officers do not appear to be following the tactical steps to control and arrest Pretti. "This just seemed to be a free-for-all, and they didn't seem to have any understanding from a tactical perspective on how to gain control of that individual," he said.
9:01:05 a.m. -- A nearby woman can be heard screaming, "That is police brutality. They are hitting an observer. They're kicking them in the face." At one point, at least five officers are on top of Pretti, pinning him down.
9:04:11 a.m. -- One of the agents appears to hit Pretti, swinging his hand to repeatedly punch Pretti.
9:01:12 a.m. -- One of the officers appears to draw a handgun.
9:01:13 a.m. -- One of the federal officers appears to remove a gun from Pretti's waist that seems to match the handgun federal officials said he was carrying.
9:01:14 a.m. -- Another video shows the officer in the grey jacket emerging from the scrum, holding a firearm that appears to match Pretti's weapon. The video of the officer entering the scrum did not show the agent carrying a weapon. Three cameras capture the moment.
9:01:14 a.m. -- First shot is fired. At least one officer immediately steps away from Pretti.
9:01:16 a.m. -- One second after the first shot, three additional shots are fired. Pretti appears to go limp and fall to the ground.
9:01:19 a.m. -- Within three seconds, six more shots are fired. The six agents have stepped back from Pretti's body.
9:01:45 a.m. -- Twenty-nine seconds after the first shot, an officer approaches Pretti. According to a sworn affidavit from a doctor who says they treated Pretti at the scene, Pretti had at least three bullet wounds in his back, an additional wound on his upper chest, and another possible wound on his neck.
09:02:28 a.m. -- Seventy-four seconds after the first shot is fired, the officer in a grey jacket is heard saying, "I got the gun. I got the gun," and walks towards the officers surrounding Pretti.
An analysis conducted by Robert Maher, a professor at Montana State University specializing in audio forensics, concluded that 10 shots were fired in less than 5 seconds.
