Editor’s Note: The following analysis reflects the opinions and interpretations of Braden Langley of Langley Outdoors Academy. AmmoLand News is not asserting factual conclusions regarding the incident. Investigations into the death of Alex Pretti are ongoing, and no official determinations have been made.
Braden Langley of Langley Outdoors Academy has posted a compelling analysis of what appears to be a combination of an unintentional discharge of Alex Pretti’s Sig Sauer P320, combined with the predictable response, which led to his shooting and death in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026. Langly does his analysis on YouTube.
To sum up the action as shown in numerous videos. Alex Pretti is involved in obstructing ICE officers from making an arrest, along with numerous other individuals. Pretti is in the street and is actively aiding others in obstructing ICE. A couple of women are working with Alex. ICE agents tell them to leave/get out of the way. Pretti does not do so. An ICE agent sprays him with pepper spray, and about 3-5 ICE agents attempt to place him in custody. Pretti struggles, resisting arrest. 3-5 ICE agents are involved, taking Pretti to the ground, and attempting to gain control over Pretti.
One of the agents, wearing a grey jacket and grey headgear, reaches into the scrum of struggling men, takes a pistol off of Pretti, which appears to have been in the small of Pretti’s back. It is not clear if there is a holster. At this point, someone yells, “Gun! Gun! Gun!” which is what agents are trained to do when a weapon is found during a struggle.
At the “Gun! Gun! Gun!” warning, at least one of the agents draws his handgun. The agent in grey starts to step away from the scrum, removing the pistol from the scene, a prudent move. He barely takes a step before a shot is fired. At least two of the agents recoil in response. Then several more shots are fired, which result in Pretti’s death.
Langley claims the video shows the first shot was fired from Pretti’s Sig P320 as it was being removed from the scene.
In Langley’s detailed analysis, it appears the slide on the Sig P320 moves back and forth as the agent in grey holds it down toward the ground by his side as he steps away. His hand appears to move, as if from recoil. There is some evidence of a bullet hitting the ground.
If this theory is true, then there should be evidence of an impact of a bullet at the crime scene, in the suspected location.
This sort of situation has happened before in law enforcement. There is a struggle. A gun is found. A shot goes off. Officers, keyed up to the edge in a highly dangerous situation, fire in response. Langley calls it “contagious gunfire.” The officers were primed for a deadly threat. They are on the edge of responding with deadly force. Then the gunshot rings out. It is very close. People may even feel splatter or fragments from the bullet hit their feet or legs.
There will be much more investigation. The agents will be questioned. The truth will come out.
It is hoped the crime scene is preserved. This is not easy to do when the local police will not assist, the governor and the mayor are telling the proto-insurgents to resist, and the incident occurs in an area where the proto-insurgents are attempting to exert control.
In some cases, confederates of offenders have removed evidence from the scene. Several cartridge cases should be at the scene to be analyzed in a crime laboratory. The local police have been forbidden to assist, so it will have to be at a federal lab.
There are also peculiar things that can happen, and have happened at other crime scenes. A cartridge case may become embedded in a boot tread or vehicle tread if the crime scene is not very carefully controlled.
A tragedy composed of a series of unfortunate events, triggered by illegal interference with ICE agents, appears to be the most likely explanation of what resulted in Alex Pretti’s death.
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About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
