Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis -- the second shooting of a U.S. citizen last month by federal agents in the city. His death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner.
The shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse, ratcheted up tensions, as protesters clashed in the streets with law enforcement in the aftermath of the shooting.
The incident followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, on Jan. 7.
The attorney representing Renee Good's family released a statement Thursday that they "are cautiously optimistic about the drawdown of federal agents from Minnesota."
"The nation will be watching to see if and where these agents are redeployed. The agents' departure from Minnesota does not dismiss the absolute need for accountability for their actions during Operation Metro Surge, and we are committed to seeking justice for our clients," Antonio Romanucci said in a statement.
-ABC News' Henderson Hewes
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed the announcement that Operation Metro Surge would end and said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the order would go through.
Walz noted that Operation Metro Surge's impact on Minnesota would be lasting even after federal agents leave.
"The fact of the matter is they left us with deep damage," Walz said. "Generational trauma, they left us with economic ruin in some cases, they left us with many unanswered questions. Where are our children? Where and what is the process of the investigations into those who were responsible for the deaths of Renee and Alex?"
"While the federal government may move on to whatever next thing they want to do, the state of Minnesota and our administration is unwaveringly focused on the recovery of what they did," he added.
-ABC News' Matt Foster
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., released a statement Thursday saying the federal government's announcement that it was ending its immigration policy surge in Minnesota "is not enough."
"There must be justice and accountability. This administration must fully cooperate with independent investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti," she said.
The Democratic congresswoman, who has been slammed by the president and his allies over her criticism of ICE, urged Congress to demand answers from the federal government.
"They must explain who authorized these actions, what legal justifications were used, and why constitutional protections were ignored. Our businesses deserve economic restitution for the harm done," she said.
-ABC News' John Parkinson
The federal government's immigration surge in Minneapolis is ending, border czar Tom Homan said at a press conference Thursday.
The surge yielded the "successful results we came here for," Homan told reporters.
Homan also claimed the twin cities and Minnesota in general "are and will continue to be much safer for the communities here because of what we have accomplished."
Homan said he was sent to Minneapolis to "identify issues and implement solutions" to make their "mission" more successful.
"I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue to the next week," Homan said later on at the press conference.
A federal judge is dissolving the temporary restraining order that prohibited federal investigators from destroying any evidence related to Alex Pretti's fatal shooting, finding that attorneys representing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) failed to prove that the administration was unlikely to preserve evidence.
"Though the record is not one-sided, the greater weight of the evidence shows Defendants are not likely to destroy or improperly alter evidence related to Mr. Pretti's shooting during the life of this case, and other relevant considerations do not on balance favor a continuing preservation order," Judge Eric C. Tostrud said.
Tostrud said that the BCA had raised "significant concerns" about how the on-scene investigation was conducted, but that the "concerns about past conduct do not hold substantial predictive value" about how DHS would conduct the investigation in the future.
The judge also acknowledged that the swift comments DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials made about the shooting were "troubling" and cast doubt on the administration's "interest in learning the truth," but said BCA failed to prove that those comments indicated that evidence would be destroyed.
In response to the judge's decision, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, whose office sought the TRO along with BCA, said they "expect [the federal government] to do what they have pledged to do: preserve evidence of this fatal shooting."
"Preservation was step one. Access is step two and those efforts are already well underway," she continued.
-ABC News' Armando Garcia
