US federal agents have shot and killed a second civilian in the northern US city of Minneapolis, where immigration officers have been deployed as part of a sweeping crackdown. The death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, on Saturday has sparked widespread outrage, and questions about the official version of events.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS News that after being initially blocked from the scene of the shooting, officers from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were now on site canvassing for witnesses and evidence.

Less than three weeks ago, when Renee Good was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, there was a tussle between federal and local officials over the investigation.

Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino told CNN on Sunday that Pretti was not blameless, and that observers should not take part in “freeze-frame adjudication of a crime scene.”

“Border Patrol agents and law enforcement were conducting a targeted law enforcement effort against a violent illegal alien that was nearby, and that suspect injected himself into that law enforcement situation with a weapon,” Bovino said.

“I don’t know he was unarmed. That’s freeze-frame adjudication of a crime scene via a photo. That’s why we have investigators.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was accused by Donald Trump of fomenting “insurrection,” again called on the US president to end the sweeping immigration operation in his state. “Minnesota believes in law and order. We believe in peace. And we believe that Trump needs to pull his 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another American in the street,” Walz wrote on X.

FBI Chief Kash Patel has rejected the idea that Pretti was a peaceful protester, as the Trump administration defended the agents on the scene.

“No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines,” Patel told Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartoromo. “You do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions.”

Patel said that citizens “cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want.” But O’Hara told CBS there were no restrictions on carrying firearms at a demonstration with a permit, which Pretti had.

Gun rights advocates, usually staunch supporters of Trump, have condemned remarks from federal officials insinuating that Pretti was in the wrong by merely possessing a weapon.

O’Hara told CBS that Minneapolis has a total of 600 police officers, and the force is “stretched incredibly thin.” Local residents visited the scene of the shooting to pay their last respects to Pretti, placing candles, flowers and photos in a makeshift memorial. One woman wearing a black winter coat and white earmuffs sobbed as she knelt at the site.

A federal judge in Minnesota issued a ruling on Saturday that blocks federal agents from “destroying or altering evidence related to the fatal shooting.” A further hearing in the case, brought by state and county officials, is set for Monday.

Pretti’s parents issued a statement following their son’s death, saying they were “heartbroken but also very angry” and slamming the administration’s handling of the matter.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” Michael and Susan Pretti said. Video footage of the shooting appears to contradict official claims that Pretti was the aggressor.

The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti had “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “violently resisted” when they attempted to disarm him. Video shared widely by US media, which AFP has not verified, however, shows Pretti with a phone in his hands, filming agents in a snow-lined street and directing traffic.

An officer in gray appears to pull a gun from Pretti’s waist while Pretti is bent forward on his knees with multiple officers on top of him. Agents then open fire. — AFP