Federal US immigration agents fatally shoot second person in Minneapolis

US Homeland Security says Border Patrol agents fired in defence at a man who approached them with a handgun

Federal agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, local and federal officials said, the second fatal shooting involving federal agents this month during a surge in immigration enforcement in the northern United States city.

The US Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents fired in defence at a man who approached them with a handgun and two magazines.

But bystander videos from the scene, verified and reviewed by Reuters, showed the man, identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who have been pushed to the ground by agents.

As the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper-sprays him.

Several agents then take hold of Pretti, who struggles with them, and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin down Pretti, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun. Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.

Moments later, an officer with a handgun pointed at Pretti's back fires four shots at him in quick succession, footage shows. Several more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.

The agents initially all back away from Pretti’s body on the road. Some agents then seem to offer medical assistance to Pretti as he lies on the ground, as other agents keep bystanders back.

Read: More federal agents sent to Minneapolis

The shooting of Pretti, an intensive care nurse, drew hundreds of protesters to the neighbourhood to confront the armed and masked agents, who deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades. Demonstrations also broke out in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, among other cities.

It also raised tensions between state and federal officials, already at odds with the Trump administration over the shooting of another U.S. citizen, Renee Good, on January 7.

They have refused to allow local officials to participate in their investigation of the incident.

Later, video from the area showed immigration agents deploying tear gas on a growing crowd of onlookers. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for an immediate end to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations in the state.

"How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?" Frey said at a news conference.

The state's governor and two US senators also called for federal agents to leave.

Trump has been briefed on the shooting, a White House official told Reuters.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said there was a "volatile scene" at the site of the shooting and asked people to avoid the area. "Please do not destroy our city," he said.

The nearby Minneapolis Institute of Art said it had closed for the day due to safety concerns. The shooting came one day after more than 10,000 people took to the frigid streets to protest the presence of the 3,000 federal agents who have been ordered to the state by Trump.

On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis to show support for immigration officers and to ask local leaders and activists to reduce tensions, saying US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was carrying out an important mission to detain immigration violators.