Two federal immigration agents have reportedly been linked to Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting. The two names emerging so far are that of Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer Raymundo Gutierrez. ProPublica was the first to break the news.
According to government records seen by the “independent, non-profit newsroom,” 43-year-old Ochoa and 35-year-old Gutierrez have been named as Alex Pretti‘s shooters.
The 37-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protester was shot and killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last weekend, as he had taken to the city’s streets after fellow Minneapolis resident Renee Good was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier in January, as per his parent’s account quoted in numerous US reports.al
Alex Pretti’s shooters identified
As per the records reviewed by ProPublica, both Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez were assigned to Operation Metro Surge, which is the ongoing operation undertaken by ICE and CBP with the stated purpose of removing “the Worst of the Worst from Minneapolis Streets” and deporting them.
The so-called operation began in December 2025. Its initial targets were the Twin Cities, aka Minneapolis and St Paul), but it eventually expanded to encompass the entire state of Minnesota, with the Department of Homeland Security calling it “the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out.”
Despite the nonprofit newsroom’s report laying out the details about the men now named as Alex Pretti’s supposed shooters, CBP, the agency that employs both of them, has yet to officially release their names amid the surging backlash against federal authorities.
The report further lays out that a notice was sent to some member of Congress on Tuesday, acknowledging that two agents took aim at Pretti with Glock pistols in January. However, the notice reportedly fails to mention their names. A DHS spokesperson is said to have added that the CBP agents had been placed on leave following the Jan 24 shooting of Alex Pretti.
According to ProPublica, Pretti’s reported shooters hail from South Texas.
Jesus Ochoa is said to be a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Meanwhile, Raymundo Gutierrez, who works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations, joined the agency in 2014. He is also part of a special response team, which conducts high-risk operations.
Jesus Ochoa pursued a degree in criminal justice at the University of Texas-Pan American, ProPublica cited his ex-wife, Angelica Ochoa. Going by the name of Jesse, the Border Patrol agent had reportedly been living in the Rio Grande Valley for a long time.
As per his former partner’s comments, they split up in 2021, adding that around that time Ochoa had turned into a gun enthusiast with about 25 rifles, pistols and shotguns.
DOJ’s civil rights probe into Alex Pretti death
The ProPublica report made headlines just days after the US Justice Department opened a federal civil rights probe in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, as per Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement.
“We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” he said during a press conference.
“There are thousands, unfortunately, of law enforcement events every year where somebody is shot. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice does not investigate every one of those shootings,” he went on. “There has to be circumstances or facts, or maybe unknown facts, but certainly circumstances that warrant an investigation.”
Blanche also quoted US President Donald Trump: “…has said repeatedly, ‘Of course, this is something we’re going to investigate.'”
The DOJ investigation news came hours after the US president called the deceased ICU nurse an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” in a Truth Social post.
About Alex Pretti’s shooting
Several statements from top Trump admin officials, even those from White House senior advisor Stephen Miller, painted a negative picture of Alex Pretti. Miller had described the 37-year-old as a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents” in a social media post.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also claimed Pretti “attacked” officers, adding he was “brandishing” a gun at the time of the incident.
However, footage of the harrowing tragedy circulating online countered claims made by the Homeland Security about Pretti. Different angles of the shooting video captured the visuals of Pretti holding up a phone to film Border Patrol agents, who were seen pepper-spraying another individual.
As Pretti stepped in, he, too, was pepper-sprayed by the federal authorities and ultimately pinned down to the ground. Not even once Pretti was seen bringing out the gun the DHS claims to have found on his person at the time. The footage further shed light on an agent reaching to Pretti’s lower back and retrieving a gun.
Just seconds later, an officer pulls out a gun and shoots Pretti at close range. At least 10 shots were heard in the short span of time while officers continued pinning the man to the ground.