“I’m saddened. I’m saddened to the deepest part of my heart,” a veteran said after recognizing a familiar face.
When the familiar face appeared on a local news broadcast, the Minneapolis veteran felt his stomach drop. It was the nurse who had stayed by his side through one of the longest nights of his life, the man who cracked jokes, eased his fear, and reassured his partner as machines beeped around him in an ICU room.
Now, the veteran is speaking out. So are others who knew the man in different corners of his life.
A nurse walks across the corridor with a patient on a ward in a hospital. | Source: Getty Images
A former patient, a grieving ex-wife, and colleagues who once worked alongside Alex Pretti are sharing memories of the nurse they describe as compassionate, gentle, and quietly devoted to helping others. These reflections stand in stark contrast to the violent encounter that ended his life in Minneapolis.
Who the Veteran Patient Remembers
Sonny Fouts, 71, tells People that he met Pretti on January 12, 2026, at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, where Pretti worked as an ICU nurse.
A photo of Alex Pretti can be seen at a makeshift memorial in the area where he was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
Fouts, an Air Force veteran, had undergone a nine-hour descending aorta aneurysm repair and was admitted to intensive care, where Pretti cared for him overnight. During the surgery, Sonny’s significant other, Kimberly Fouts, waited in the family room from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m., when she was finally told she could visit.
“I walked in, and Sonny’s just hooked up to so many machines and needles and tubes, and Alex was his nurse, and he just lightened the situation,” Fouts’s significant other recalls. “There are nurses who come in and don’t really say anything, and Alex was not like that. I appreciated that I immediately felt comfortable with him. And I felt that Sonny was in good hands.”
Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
Fouts, a retired musician who played saxophone and guitar and was a singer-songwriter, says the deceased nurse made a terrifying moment more bearable.
“I do remember how he comforted me, helped me, did his job,” the veteran adds. “He made me feel as comfortable as possible. He made me laugh a few times — and I certainly didn’t feel like laughing.”
Fouts also noticed the care Pretti showed him, while appreciating the comfort and care the deceased nurse provided to his significant other, too.
People mourn Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
When Sonny Recognizes Alex
The couple recognized Pretti’s face when they saw him on the news on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Pretti had been fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis. “It’s very sad. I hate it,” Fouts says of Pretti’s death. “I’m not a Democrat. I’m not a Republican. But what the [expletive] going on in this city of ours?”
Since learning what happened, Sonny says he has struggled physically and emotionally. The veteran tells People he’s had headaches and stomach aches, as well as trouble sleeping.
Federal agents block off the scene of a shooting as crowds gather in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 24, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
“I don’t like looking at the TV about it. I don’t want to read any newspaper stories,” he says. “I don’t use the word ‘hero,’ but I guess I could say that.” Without Pretti and the care he received that night, Fouts believes his outcome could have been very different. “I might not have been here,” he says.
A Colleague’s Shock
The outlet also spoke with Dr. Shaukat, who hired the deceased as a research assistant in 2014, worked with him until 2020, and wrote his recommendation for nursing school.
A picture sits at a memorial to Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 25, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
She says she was “absolutely shocked” by the news of his death, adding:
“I’m just so aghast that he got caught up in all of this. He was not a troublemaker. He did not have crazy extreme views, at least that he expressed to us. He just was a good citizen and he cared for his fellow citizens. The fact that got him beaten and killed is just devastating.”
