Stella Carlson, the woman in a pink coat who was pushed to the ground moments before Alex Pretti was fatally shot during a federal immigration operation in south Minneapolis, has spoken publicly for the first time, describing what she saw and heard as masked agents confronted Pretti and the scene descended into gunfire.
Carlson, who has been identified online as the woman Pretti appeared to shield in widely shared footage, told CNN she had gone outside after noticing unusual activity on her street and seeing people running, then realised federal agents were in the area. She said she began filming and shouting as she tried to make sense of what was happening, and described being forced down as agents moved in.
Video from the confrontation, which circulated widely in the hours after the shooting, shows Pretti holding up a phone as he films agents in tactical gear. In the clip, Carlson is seen near him as officers push and pepper spray people at close range. Pretti is then tackled, pinned to the ground and shot, according to multiple accounts and footage reviewed by news organisations.
Carlson told CNN that in the seconds before the shooting she was close enough to hear and feel the intensity of the struggle. “I remember him arching, and then he went limp,” she said of Pretti. She added: “I knew he was gone in that moment.”
Her account comes as officials continue to dispute the federal government’s initial characterisation of the encounter, and as investigators review the actions of the officers involved. The Department of Homeland Security and immigration enforcement agencies have been under pressure to explain why a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, described by friends and family as a veteran caregiver and community-minded resident, ended up shot in the street during an enforcement action.
Pretti’s parents, in a statement published in full by CBS News Minnesota, said they were “heartbroken but also very angry”, describing their son as “a kindhearted soul” whose “last thought and act was to protect a woman.” They accused the administration of spreading “sickening lies” about him and said video shows he was holding a phone, not a gun, as he was sprayed and attacked.
The case has become a flashpoint in Minneapolis amid a surge of immigration enforcement activity and local outrage over tactics used by agents operating in unmarked vehicles and face coverings. The shooting of Pretti was the second fatal incident involving immigration enforcement in the city this month, following the earlier death of Renee Good, who, according to court records and reports, was killed by an ICE officer in early January.
Carlson told CNN she has been “overwhelmed” by the attention and has been described by supporters as a local volunteer involved in mutual aid efforts, including delivering food and supplies to neighbours. She said she had not sought public attention and had avoided interviews in the immediate aftermath as misinformation about the incident spread online.
In the days after Pretti’s death, national officials made claims suggesting he posed a deadly threat to law enforcement, assertions rejected by city and state figures and questioned by video evidence. Pretti’s parents said he was “clearly not holding a gun” in the footage and urged people to “get the truth out about our son.”
Separate reporting has focused on additional footage from earlier this month, showing a confrontation between Pretti and agents around 11 days before he was killed. The Irish Times reported on videos in which Pretti is seen yelling at agents in an unmarked vehicle and being tackled to the ground; it also cited a witness who said: “He got slammed to the ground pretty hard,” and recorded Pretti responding afterwards: “I’m OK. Are we all OK? Are we all safe?”
Authorities have said that Pretti was licensed to carry a firearm, and some reports have described a weapon visible in the waistband area in one of the earlier videos, though witnesses and family representatives have said he did not touch it during that incident. Those details have fed polarised debate, but they have not resolved the central questions surrounding the fatal encounter: how the confrontation unfolded on the day he died, why force was used, and whether the use of lethal weapons was justified.
Carlson’s comments also place renewed attention on the final moments captured on camera, including audible shouts that appear to show agents calling out the presence of a gun after Pretti had already been pinned. In a detailed timeline published by ABC News, a bystander video is described as capturing an agent yelling “I got the gun. I got the gun,” as the scene remained chaotic.
Federal agencies have said the incident is under investigation, and some officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while reviews are carried out. Al Jazeera reported that agents who shot Pretti were placed on leave as the case drew national scrutiny and as competing narratives about what happened continued to circulate.
For Carlson, the focus has remained on what she says she witnessed: a man filming a tense enforcement operation, being forced down and then shot, after appearing to step between her and armed officers. In her CNN interview, she said she decided to speak because she believed the public conversation about what happened had become detached from what she saw on the ground. She urged others who were present, and anyone with video, to share what they captured. “We all have to be brave,” she said.
