A newly surfaced, high-definition video is sparking renewed debate surrounding the fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers.

The video suggests that Pretti, a 37-year-old American citizen, was unarmed and subdued just before being shot multiple times on a city street.

Stabilized and slowed down to highlight the critical moments leading up to the gunfire, the footage has been meticulously examined by the Daily Mail and local Minneapolis journalists, frame by frame.

This new perspective from the footage appears to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s assertion that Pretti had ‘brandished’ a weapon or posed an immediate danger to the officers.

The video has intensified the scrutiny of DHS’s statement, which claimed that officers fired ‘defensive shots’ after Pretti ‘approached’ them with a handgun and violently resisted arrest.

Instead, the footage appears to show federal agents already restraining Pretti on the ground when his firearm is removed – moments before another agent shoots him.

Adding to the scrutiny, a doctor who witnessed the aftermath from his nearby apartment said in an affidavit that federal agents delayed performing lifesaving aid.

The unidentified pediatrician claims the agents appeared to be ‘counting his bullet wounds’ instead of administering CPR as Pretti lay critically wounded.

Among those who have closely examined the footage is Lou Raguse, an investigative journalist with KARE 11 News in Minneapolis, who said one angle is particularly significant.

‘I’ve reviewed every available video of the Border Patrol shooting … and there is one angle in particular that I think is important to see,’ Raguse said.

‘You can see the agent in gray pull Pretti’s gun out from the back of his pants right in front of this Border Patrol agent who draws his weapon.’

‘That agent then fires up to 10 times again after Alex Pretti is disarmed,’ Raguse said. ‘I froze the video right before the second shot, which appeared to be right into Alex’s back.’

Raguse said the footage directly undermines claims made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has repeatedly asserted that Pretti ‘brandished’ a weapon.

‘This video directly contradicts Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s claim that Pretti brandished the weapon or approached officers with the weapon,’ Raguse said. ‘No video even shows Pretti reach for it.’

Raguse also noted how his station confirmed Pretti was legally permitted to carry a firearm in Minnesota. 

The newly released clip begins after Pretti has already been pepper-sprayed and forced to his knees. 

Multiple DHS agents are seen surrounding him, struggling to restrain his arms and legs as he is pushed face-down onto the pavement.

As four agents remain engaged in the struggle, one officer, wearing a gray jacket and a pink rimmed baseball cap, appears to reach into the back waistband of Pretti’s pants and pull out a handgun. 

The officer then moves away from the group, holding the weapon.

It is just as that officer is running back across the street it’s believed Pretti’s own gun may have accidentally misfired while in the officer’s hands. 

In the heat at the moment, the remaining DHS agents that surrounded the ICU nurse may have believed the gunfire to have come from Pretti himself. 

Within an instant, another agent draws his firearm and fires directly into Pretti’s back, who then collapses onto the street. 

Agents are then seen backing away into the road as additional shots ring out. 

In total, roughly ten shots appear to be fired, even as Pretti lies motionless.

Federal officials have not explained why lethal force was used after Pretti appeared restrained and disarmed.

Questions surrounding the shooting have been further sharpened by an affidavit from a 29-year-old physician whose apartment overlooks the scene and who rushed outside after hearing gunfire.

In legal filings, the doctor said agents initially prevented him from reaching Pretti, despite his repeated pleas to help.

‘At first, the ICE agents wouldn’t let me through,’ the doctor wrote. ‘They repeatedly asked me for my physician’s license, which I obviously didn’t have.’

The doctor said none of the agents near Pretti appeared to be performing CPR or checking for a pulse.

‘I could tell that the victim was in critical condition,’ he wrote. ‘I insisted that the agents let me assess him. Normally, I would not have been so persistent, but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.’

Eventually, the doctor said, one agent agreed, but only after patting him down ‘to make sure I didn’t have a weapon.’

When he reached Pretti, the doctor said he was confused by what he saw.

‘As I approached, I saw that the victim was lying on his side and was surrounded by several ICE agents,’ he wrote. ‘I was confused as to why the victim was on his side, because that is not standard practice when a victim has been shot.’

‘Checking for a pulse and administering CPR is standard practice,’ he added. ‘Instead of doing either of those things, the ICE agents appeared to be counting his bullet wounds.’

Pretti was shot just over a mile from where Renee Good, 37, was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on January  7 – a case that had already sparked weeks of protests in Minneapolis.

After Saturday’s shooting, hundreds of protesters flooded the frigid streets, clashing with federal officers who deployed batons and flash bangs. 

Governor Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard, sending troops to the shooting site and to a nearby federal building where protests have occurred daily.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said information about what led up to the shooting was limited.

In other bystander videos Pretti can be seen holding a cellphone but not visibly armed.

Pretti’s family has fiercely disputed the federal account, calling it ‘sickening lies’ and insisting the video shows their son holding a phone, not a gun, as he tried to protect a woman who had been shoved by agents.

‘The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.

‘Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,’ his family said in a statement.

‘He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.

‘Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.’

Pretti was hailed as a good and caring man by his grieving family.

Their statement said: ‘Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.

‘Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.

‘I do not through around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.’

Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting into adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. 

He had also participated in protests following the January 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer.

‘He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,’ said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. 

‘He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.’

Candles were lit, flowers placed while others stood in silence paying their respects at a vigil on Saturday evening. 

As night fell, hundreds of people gathered somberly and quietly by the growing memorial at the shooting scene.

Caleb Spike came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. ‘It feels like every day something crazier happens,’ he said. ‘What´s happening in our community is wrong, it´s sickening, it´s disgusting.’

A nearby doughnut shop and clothing store stayed open to offer a place for people to warm up, as well as water, coffee and snacks.