Rory Shefchek tells PEOPLE that Alex Pretti “should be remembered as a happy-go-lucky, nice guy”
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Credit : va.gov
Alex Pretti, the man who was shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis, is being remembered by his high school friend as a non-violent individual.
After Pretti, 37, was shot dead by U.S. Border Patrol officers on Saturday, Jan. 24, his pal from his teenage years, Rory Shefchek, tells PEOPLE exclusively, “It’s just so crazy to see this.”
“I’ve been following everything going on, and I’m not really a political person, I’m gonna be honest with you, but when you see somebody you know, [it hurts].”
Describing Pretty, an ICU nurse, as “a good dude,” Shefchek, also 37, adds, “He was always a really nice guy.”
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Pretti and Shefchek were in the same grade at Preble High School in Wisconsin. They graduated together in 2006.
Recalling what Pretti was like as a teen, Shefchek tells PEOPLE, “He was involved in a lot of extracurriculars and stuff, and I just always thought he was a great dude. … He was funny. He was very talented.”
“We did choir and solo ensemble together,” he continues. “He played football too. I mean, he was just your average all-American guy. He got along with everybody.”
“I met him, and I immediately thought he was just somebody you could just talk to right away, like, ‘Oh, this guy’s really a warm and welcoming kind of person,’ ” adds Shefchek.
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alleged in a statement to PEOPLE that Pretti “approached” U.S. Border Patrol officers while armed with a handgun and “violently resisted” as they attempted to disarm him on Jan. 24. She said an agent then fired “defensive shots.”
At least 200 protesters arrived near the scene of the shooting soon after, leading to confrontations between federal law enforcement and locals, The Associated Press reported.
At a press conference after the shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that, to his knowledge, Pretti’s only previous interaction with law enforcement was for parking tickets.
He added that Pretti was a “lawful gun owner” with a permit.
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Shefchek tells PEOPLE he and Pretti went to different colleges after high school, but they stayed in touch through social media.
After news of Pretti’s death became public on Jan. 24, Shefchek — a consultant for an insurance company — says many who knew the man are shocked. “The first thing I did was reach out to some other classmates and my family, and I was like, ‘This is crazy,’ ” he says. “Everybody’s posting pictures of him, and we’re just all like, ‘How could this happen to somebody like that?’ “
“This seems really odd. It’s not like [he was] somebody who was an agitator … or somebody who was controversial,” continues Shefchek, adding: “I hope people don’t think this is a guy that was out there trying to pick a fight with law enforcement. I really don’t think that’s the case. That’d be so out of character. This is a guy that should be remembered as a happy-go-lucky, nice guy.”
Overall, Pretti’s childhood friend says the man’s death “infuriates” him. He explains, “It’s easy to detach yourself when it’s not people you know. … [So] it’s really weird to hear somebody from your little small town of a hundred thousand people is literally dead.”
