WINTER STORM BRINGS SNOW, COLD ACROSS MUCH OF U.S. 3A THE
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S u n d ay, J a n u a ry 25, 2026
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MINNEAPOLIS
Feds shoot, kill man during protests as tensions escalate, Minnesota deploys National Guard to scene
PHotos By roBIN May
executive director of Hope for opelousas Loren Carriere addresses the crowd gathered for the groundbreaking for the new Hope for opelousas Center in opelousas on thursday.
associated Press
Acadiana nonprofit expanding services
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal immigration officer shot and killed a man Saturday in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigid streets and ratcheting up tensions in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier. Family members identified the man who was killed as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who had protested President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered and protesters clashed with federal immigration officers, who wielded batons and deployed flash bangs. The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police amid ä Man killed growing protests at the direction in Minneapolis of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, officials said. Guard troops were was ICU nurse, sent to both the shooting site and family says. to a federal building where offi- PaGe 5a cials have squared off with protesters daily. Information about what led up to the shooting was limited, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. The officer who shot the man is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said. In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon. O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
organization breaks ground on new high school center BY JOANNA BROWN staff writer
Recently dozens of people gathered in the parking lot of an Opelousas shopping center that is currently home to a Family Dollar, an Arc of Acadiana resale shop and not much else. That will all change in the coming weeks and months, as the center is slated to be completely redesigned and transformed as the home of Hope for Opelousas’ new high school center. The commercial spaces and a planned food truck kiosk will be maintained as an ongoing revenue source for the nonprofit, which intends to double the amount of students it can serve through tutoring, enrichment, ministry and internship and entrepreneurship opportunities. Hope for Opelousas is structured as a wrap-around support organization that works closely with students in the program and their families. Founded in 2008 with the goal of helping children living in poverty, the Opelousas campus is clustered in several homes at 330 E. Madison St., right across from the shopping center that will become Hope Plaza. At the recent groundbreaking,
Hope of opelousas staff, along with family and friends, attend the groundbreaking for the new Hope for opelousas Center on thursday.
“Our existing spaces were already full. We needed more space. We needed more funding. We had leads on spaces that would accommodate growth for elementary and junior high, but the final piece of the puzzle was to figure out what to do for high school.” LoreN CarrIere, executive director of Hope for opelousas executive director Loren Carriere than 300 Opelousas students are on said that the acquisition was the the organization’s waitlist. Once acresult of years of planning around cepted, students tend to stay with how to grow the program and serve ä see CENTER, page 6A more students. Currently, more
Jail escapes in St. Landry spark concerns sheriff, parish president dispute cause, responsibility
by three inmates who chipped through a wall. Guidroz said the escape exposed longstanding problems at the jail in Opelousas, which opened in the BY JOEL THOMPSON mid-1980s. staff writer “We have 13 cells Guidroz A weathered cinder block sits on without functioning a shelf in St. Landry Parish Sheriff locks. There are holes in the ceiling. Bobby Guidroz’s office — a reminder, Toilets don’t work. Air conditioning he says, of deteriorating conditions at units don’t work. It’s a mess,” Guidroz the parish jail and a December escape said.
WeatHer HIGH 40 LOW 22 PaGe 6B
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BY JACK BROOK, STEVE KARNOWSKI and REBECCA SANTANA
ä see MINNEAPOLIS, page 4A
UL athletic department cuts 25% of staff 35 positions lost amid university financial crisis BY KEVIN FOOTE staff writer
The escape and the jail’s condition have sparked a public dispute between Guidroz and Parish President Jessie Bellard over responsibility for jail maintenance, staffing and the use of taxpayer money dedicated to jail operations. At issue are competing claims about whether deteriorating infrastructure or inadequate supervision led to the escape — and which office is accountable for fixing problems at the aging facility.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s athletic department is facing one of its most challenging financial years in recent memory. Staffing and programs have been reduced as the university works to close a broader budget gap. Athletic director Bryan Maggard said the department began trimming expenses early, even before campus directives were issued. “We are all in this together,” Maggard said. “We absolutely know we’re one team, as a university, and we’re working very hard to try to meet our financial goals.”
ä see CONCERNS, page 6A
ä see UL, page 9A
Business ......................1E Classified .....................7D Commentary ................5B Living............................1D
Metro ...........................1B Nation-World................2A opinion ........................4B sports ..........................1C
101st year, No. 209