Alex Pretti’s Veteran Patient, Ex‑Wife and Others Break Silence after Minneapolis Confrontation with Federal Agents

"I'm saddened. I'm saddened to the deepest part of my heart," a veteran said after recognizing a familiar face.

When the familiar face appeared on a local news broadcast, the Minneapolis veteran felt his stomach drop. It was the nurse who had stayed by his side through one of the longest nights of his life, the man who cracked jokes, eased his fear, and reassured his partner as machines beeped around him in an ICU room.

Now, the veteran is speaking out. So are others who knew the man in different corners of his life.

A nurse walks across the corridor with a patient on a ward in a hospital. | Source: Getty Images

A former patient, a grieving ex-wife, and colleagues who once worked alongside Alex Pretti are sharing memories of the nurse they describe as compassionate, gentle, and quietly devoted to helping others. These reflections stand in stark contrast to the violent encounter that ended his life in Minneapolis.

Sonny Fouts, 71, tells People that he met Alex on January 12, 2026, at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, where Alex worked as an ICU nurse.

A photo of Alex Pretti can be seen at a makeshift memorial in the area where he was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

Fouts, an Air Force veteran, had undergone a nine-hour descending aorta aneurysm repair and was admitted to intensive care, where Pretti cared for him overnight. During the surgery, Sonny's significant other, Kimberly Fouts, waited in the family room from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m., when she was finally told she could visit.

"I walked in, and Sonny's just hooked up to so many machines and needles and tubes, and Alex was his nurse, and he just lightened the situation," Kimberly recalls. "There are nurses who come in and don't really say anything, and Alex was not like that. I appreciated that I immediately felt comfortable with him. And I felt that Sonny was in good hands."

Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

Sonny, a retired musician who played saxophone and guitar and was a singer-songwriter, says the deceased nurse made a terrifying moment more bearable.

"I do remember how he comforted me, helped me, did his job," Sonny adds. "He made me feel as comfortable as possible. He made me laugh a few times — and I certainly didn't feel like laughing."

Sonny also noticed the care Alex showed Kimberly. Sonny appreciated that Alex comforted and cared for his significant other, too.

People mourn Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

The couple recognized Alex's face when they saw him on the news on Saturday, January 24, 2026.

Alex had been fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis. "It's very sad. I hate it," Sonny says of Pretti's death. "I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. But what the [expletive] going on in this city of ours?"

Since learning what happened, Sonny says he has struggled physically and emotionally. The veteran tells People he's had headaches and stomach aches, as well as trouble sleeping.

Federal agents block off the scene of a shooting as crowds gather in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

"I don't like looking at the TV about it. I don't want to read any newspaper stories," he says. "I don't use the word 'hero,' but I guess I could say that." Without Alex and the care he received that night, Sonny believes his outcome could have been very different. "I might not have been here," he says.

The outlet also spoke with Dr. Shaukat, who hired the deceased as a research assistant in 2014, worked with him until 2020, and wrote his recommendation for nursing school.

A picture sits at a memorial to Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 25, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

She says she was "absolutely shocked" by the news of his death, adding:

"I'm just so aghast that he got caught up in all of this. He was not a troublemaker. He did not have crazy extreme views, at least that he expressed to us. He just was a good citizen and he cared for his fellow citizens. The fact that got him beaten and killed is just devastating."

Shaukat remembers Alex as being "just a joy" to work with.

Federal agents detain a protester along a commercial street in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

"He was just a really sweet person that you could just talk to. No pretense. No complicated factors. Just who he was is how he came across," she tells the outlet. "He was very supportive if you ever needed him to do something — you never had to think twice."

For Sonny, the memory that lingers is not of flashing lights or breaking-news headlines, but of a nurse standing at his bedside, speaking softly, cracking jokes, and trying to make a long night feel less frightening.

A moment of silence for Alex Jeffrey Pretti is observed before the Warriors-Timberwolves game at Target Center on January 25, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

Alex's ex-wife, who spoke to another news outlet and later said she did not want her name used, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

She said she had moved to another state after their divorce two years ago, adding that she had not spoken to her ex-husband since the divorce.

She told AP News that Alex was a Democratic voter and had participated in street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, near where the couple once lived.

She described him as someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but said she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

She also said Pretti obtained a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

Alex’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, told AP Newsthat their last conversation with their son happened a couple of days before his death.

They spoke about the repairs he had recently completed to his home's garage door. The worker who did the job was a Latino man, and Alex's parents said that with everything happening in Minneapolis, their son gave the man a $100 tip.

Others remember a man who showed up in small, ordinary ways, helping with a home repair, tipping a worker generously, offering support to colleagues, and caring for strangers as if they were family.

As investigations continue and public debates rage, the people who knew Alex Pretti say they hope he is not defined by the moment he died, but by the life he lived.