Was Greg Bovino fired? What to know about Border Patrol chief.

Top law enforcement and administration officials are facing intensifying criticism for their handling of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis last week.

Greg Bovino, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol and one of the architects of the administration's aggressive immigration crackdown, is in particularly hot water.

The commander-at-large is reportedly leaving Minnesota less than a week after Pretti's death, according to multiple media reports, amid growing outrage both on the ground in the Twin Cities and on Capitol Hill.

Here's what we know.

Bovino expected to leave Twin Cities

The fatal shooting of Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, on Saturday, Jan. 24, was the second time a federal agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis this month. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, earlier in the month while protesting against the federal immigration enforcement presence.

The Associated Press, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 26, citing anonymous sources, that Bovino was set to leave the Twin Cities. The Atlantic Magazine also reported that Bovino was set to return to his post at the El Centro Border Station in California.

The future of Bovino's tenure with the Border Patrol remains unclear, however, and Department of Homeland Security officials have pushed back on reports that he was being reassigned and would later retire from the agency.

"Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a Jan. 26 statement to USA TODAY.

Bovino’s departure from Minnesota comes as the White House on Monday, Jan. 27 announced that border czar Tom Homan is being sent to the state as the Trump administration’s new point person for immigration enforcement operations.

Bovino emerged as one of the public faces of President Donald Trump's immigration operations over the past year, spearheading the militarized approach to immigration enforcement that has come to characterize the administration's efforts.

Along with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Bovino cast Pretti's killing as an act of self-defense by federal agents, and stated Pretti intended to harm officers without providing evidence to support the allegations.

He first drew a national spotlight when he led the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz crackdown on Chicago. His high-profile moments in the nation’s third-largest city included staging a raid on an apartment building using a Black Hawk helicopter; using chemical irritants on protesters in apparent violation of a judge’s order; and being ordered to appear in federal court, where U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis scolded him for the tear-gassing incident.

Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., James Powel, Trevor Hughes, Michael Loria; USA TODAY.

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at[email protected] and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletterhere.