Alex Pretti's family didn't know he'd been shot 10 times until they saw it on TV

ICU nurse Alex Pretti's death was ruled as a 'homicide' after he had been fatally shot by federal immigration agents on January 24, but his family allegedly didn’t know the extent of his injuries until the story broke.

When the news revealed that agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis amid protests over Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent presence in the area, the nation was stunned.

It was the second death within weeks of another highly publicized killing – that of Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE officer while in her car on January 7.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said federal officers shot the 37-year-old intensive care nurse as a need to protect themselves, and claimed the nurse displayed a handgun at the time of his death.

However, footage around the time of the incident shows Pretti holding a mobile phone, not a gun.

Alex Pretti's family have spoken out (ABC News)

On February 2, Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office released the results of its autopsy, which was then obtained by PEOPLE.

It said Pretti died as a result of 'multiple gunshot wounds', and DHS maintained in a statement shared to X, that the agent had been ‘fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.’

Witnesses debunked this claim, with footage of the incident showing Pretti wrestled to the ground and his legal firearm taken from him before 10 shots were fired into him.

But what may be even more shocking to learn is that the information above was fresh news to Pretti’s family.

Pretti's sister, Micayla, said: "Hearing disgusting lies spread about my brother is absolutely gut-wrenching, and my family is deeply grateful so many people have stood up and helped tell his truth. He would be very proud."

Now, seven months on, Micayla and her parents have come out to speak in a public interview together for the first time.

"We've seen what happened. The videos are pretty clear. But we want justice. We want accountability for the people that did this to Alex," his father, Michael Pretti, said to Good Morning America.

His parents said he loved his community (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

He said his son was observing immigration activity when the shooting occurred because of his love for the community.

"He cared deeply about his community. Minneapolis was his community. He wanted people to be treated fairly, no matter what walk of life, what their background was," Michael said.

Instead of being told about their son’s death by agents or authorities, his mother Susan said they realized it was him whilst watching coverage of the shooting on the news and recognized her son's jacket and sunglasses.

"That's how we found out, watching it on TV. Watching our son be shot ten times on TV,” said Michael.

"In the back," Susan added. "I was not shocked that he helped somebody. My shock is that he was murdered and no one has given us the complete truth or anyone has been held accountable. And it's been seven months.”

"What did he do to deserve to be murdered? To be left cold, on the ground, dead, my child? What did he do?", she went on to ask before asking about the lack of criminal charges brought to the ICE agents after his death.

"They murdered our child," Susan said. "People need to be held responsible when they murder people in this country. Period."

UNILAD reached out to ICE for comment.