Agents were pursuing an immigrant when they killed Alex Pretti. Now, he shares his story.

Jose Huerta Chuma is a man in hiding — and he’s also a man in distress. He’s been replaying the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti over and over again in his mind, wondering if he could have done something differently and if there’s something that “would have saved that life.”

The 41-year-old immigrant from Ecuador, who said he has been in the U.S. for over two decades, described witnessing the shooting after hiding inside a local business. The Department of Homeland Security has described Huerta Chuma as a criminal living in the U.S. illegally who was the target of the Border Patrol operation that led to the encounter with Pretti on Saturday, Jan. 24.

“I think, maybe if I hadn’t gone to that place, or I don’t know, a little later or a little earlier, I mean, that never would have happened,” Huerta Chuma told CBS News during a phone interview conducted in Spanish.

Asked if he feels some sense of guilt, he said, while crying, his voice fraught with emotion: “I do feel guilty, I do feel bad. I saw stories about the man and I saw a very good person.”

DHS officials have described Huerta Chuma as a “violent criminal illegal alien” on the loose. Documents reviewed by CBS News indicate Huerta Chuma’s record includes traffic violations, and that he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor offense in 2018. The New York Times reported, citing Minnesota court documents, that the plea was linked to a domestic violence arrest, and that the offense was later expunged.

Huerta Chuma said the domestic violence case stemmed from an argument with his partner at the time. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a statement that Huerta Chuma has never been in the state’s prison system and that it did not find felony convictions in his case. 

CBS News reached out to representatives for DHS seeking comment about Huerta Chuma’s record and whether officials are still pursuing him.

A shooting witnessed from a hiding spot

In his first public comments, Huerta Chuma told CBS News he immigrated from Ecuador in the early 2000s, in his twenties. Before Pretti’s shooting upended his life, he was raising his American-born children while working as a rideshare driver. 

“I’m not a criminal. I just was working that day,” he said. “I was going to pick up the delivery.”

Huerta Chuma said he was on his way to pick up a delivery order around 8:18 a.m. on Jan. 24 in south Minneapolis. (He showed CBS News screenshots of the route from that morning indicating he was in the area where the shooting happened.) It was a routine delivery, similar to the almost 20,000 rides he had done over nearly six years.

As he was driving down Nicollet Avenue, Huerta Chuma said he passed a car driving in the opposite direction.

“One agent was staring at me, but I just blinked my eyes and said, ‘God, they’re immigration,'” Huerta Chuma recalled.

“So, when I looked in the mirror, they turned around immediately.” 

Huerta Chuma said the agents, who were in a red car without license plates, started to follow him.

“I didn’t run or anything, I left very calm,” he said. “I saw they were with ICE. I knew in my head they were ICE because they turned around so quickly when they [saw] my face.” 

Huerta Chuma said he parked his car, got out, and left the vehicle running. He said federal agents started to follow him, and a man at a local business let him inside, locking the door behind him. Huerta Chuma said he hid there for about 4 hours.

Huerta Chuma said he saw Pretti show up and start filming, and he saw a Border Patrol agent push a woman nearby. He said he saw the agents tackle Pretti to the ground and take his gun. 

“It all happened so fast,” he said, noting he did not see Pretti trying to hurt the agents or reach for his firearm. 

Then he described the rapid-fire shots: “Tac, tac, tac, tac, tac, tac.” 

Huerta Chuma said he watched the ambulance arrive, but knew it was too late. He said he saw federal agents write down his license plate. Then he left. 

“It felt horrible. To be watching and not being able to do anything,” Huerta Chuma said. “I don’t know how long I will be like this.”

Initial public statements at odds with evidence, official report 

Immediately after the shooting Huerta Chuma witnessed, DHS officials made sweeping statements about Pretti and his actions, some of which have since been directly contradicted by videos, witness accounts and a preliminary government report. 

DHS initially said one Border Patrol agent fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “approached” agents with his firearm. The department suggested, without citing concrete evidence, that Pretti intended to “massacre” federal agents.

A report to Congress obtained by CBS News earlier this week found that two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fired their weapons during the Jan. 24 shooting. The report, based on a “preliminary review” by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, also did not mention Pretti reaching for his firearm.

Video analyzed by CBS News shows an agent had removed the gun from Pretti’s waistband one second before another agent fired the first shot.

Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who has since been reassigned following the bipartisan backlash triggered by Pretti’s killing, described Huerta Chuma as an “illegal alien” during a press conference hours after the deadly shooting. Pointing to a booking photo, Bovino said Huerta Chuma’s record included “domestic assault,” “disorderly conduct” and “driving without a license.”

In a statement two days later, DHS branded Huerta Chuma a “violent criminal illegal alien” who remained “at large,” asking the public to call a government hotline with any tips regarding his whereabouts. 

Huerta Chuma said the government was displaying an older picture from after he was arrested in 2018 during an altercation with his wife. 

Out of work and on the run

Huerta Chuma did not reveal his whereabouts to CBS News. He said he was worried about his safety, his work and what would happen to his three children born in the U.S. Huerta Chuma said he has two children, ages 11 and 15, who live with him, and another child, a 3-year-old, who lives with the mother. CBS News attempted to reach the children’s mother but did not receive a response. 

Information accessed through the Justice Department’s immigration court system says Huerta Chuma’s deportation case was administratively closed in May 2022. The immigration court records do not list a deportation order. Huerta Chuma said he has since applied for a “U visa,” designed to protect immigrants who are victims of crimes and who have assisted law enforcement investigations.

It’s unclear exactly when and how Huerta Chuma first entered the U.S. Huerta Chuma said he has another child living in Ecuador. Court records indicate that Huerta Chuma does not have a criminal record in his native country. 

Huerta Chuma said he started working as a rideshare driver so he could have a flexible schedule and be available for his children. But since the shooting, he said, he hasn’t worked, and is rarely eating or sleeping. He said he is continuing to hide.

Though he’s scared about getting arrested, Huerta Chuma said the main source of his consternation is Pretti’s death. 

“I’m very devastated, spiritually. Why did they kill the man? He didn’t do anything,” he said. “I was there. I was there. I saw everything.”

José Diaz contributed to this report.