Federal investigators are interviewing witnesses to Alex Pretti's shooting, attorney says

Sarah Nelson, Star Tribune on Sep 9, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — Federal investigators are interviewing witnesses to Alex Pretti’s killing by immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge, according to an attorney, in the latest signal that a probe into the fatal shooting in Minneapolis is ongoing.

Attorneys for Wynnie Savageford, a witness to the shooting on Jan. 24, said their client gave her statement on Wednesday to representatives from several federal agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security and Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. The questioning was part of an ongoing investigation, the lawyers said, of which they declined to share further details.

Savageford’s attorney, James Cook, said his client and other witnesses to the shooting are cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, among other agencies, “so that we can see the killers of Alex Pretti brought to justice.”

Cook said his client was interviewed in lieu of being subpoenaed to speak before a grand jury — a move that Cook said he negotiated because Savageford wouldn’t have access to an attorney before a grand jury.

The announcement is the latest public indication that an investigation into the shooting continues.

In January, Todd Blanche confirmed a civil rights investigation had been opened into the shooting of Pretti, calling it a “standard investigation” and that he “didn’t want to overstate what’s happening.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to the Justice Department. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Savageford has said she was watching federal agents the morning Pretti was shot on Nicollet Avenue when she asked if they had a warrant. She was then tackled to the ground by three of the officers and taken to a car across the street. Moments later, she saw agents shoot Pretti.

“That day has changed me forever,” Savageford said during a news conference in March. “The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

The announcement comes after the recent indictment of an ICE agent for shooting a Venezuelan immigrant during Operation Metro Surge.

The agent, Christian Castro, was charged with six counts of making false statements to the FBI in the Jan. 14 shooting in north Minneapolis. Castro initially said he fired at Julio Sosa-Celis after a physical confrontation between the two. Video evidence unraveled his account, leading federal prosecutors to ask the court to dismiss charges against Sosa-Celis and his roommate.

Cook said he couldn’t definitively say whether the federal investigation would end similarly with charges against agents, but struck an optimistic tone about the interviewers.

“I just get the feeling that they actually want to do the right thing and bring justice,” Cook said. “But I’m not going to hold my breath because remember, they’re answering to somebody else.”

The shooting of Pretti was followed by a clash between state and federal officials over preserving evidence. The state of Minnesota eventually filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over accusations that it was withholding evidence in Pretti’s killing and that of Renee Good, who was fatally shot just weeks before by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

The impasse appeared to break mid-July when the Justice Department was said to turn over a substantial amount of evidence from the killings to state investigators, including the SUV that Good was driving in when she was shot.

Attorneys for Pretti and Good have voiced skepticism over the evidence exchange.

Steve Schleicher, the attorney representing the Pretti family, has said the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office “refused to confirm any cooperation agreement between state and federal agencies.”

Benjamin Berkman, an attorney for Renee Good’s wife Becca Good, recently asked in court records to not dismiss their petition seeking the return of Good’s SUV, saying the government has “signally failed to offer a shred of the evidence it is required to put forward” about what it has turned over.

A judge is slated to hear arguments over the status of the SUV and other evidence inside the vehicle on Sept. 18. The same day, Castro will appear in a Minneapolis federal courtroom for his initial appearance.

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