Two US Border Patrol agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota have been placed on “administrative leave”, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. The intensive care nurse was shot dead by federal immigration agents on January 24. 

A Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent on Tuesday, January 28, that two officers had fired shots during the deadly encounter. On Wednesday, a Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson confirmed two agents involved in the incident had been placed on leave, adding this was “standard protocol”.  

It was not immediately clear when the agents had been put on leave. The standard protocol normally sees federal law enforcement agents involved in a shooting being placed on administrative leave during the course of the investigation into the incident. 

Explaining what this measure means, Scott Sweetow, a former special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told CBS: “That’s both to protect the agency, to protect the person and frankly to protect the public from someone who may really be rattled when they’re out there because they’ve had to use deadly force and you don’t want them back out there engaging in a situation where they could use deadly force again.”