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Biddeford ICE shooting
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine, after DHS said the vehicle attempted to flee and “fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”
“Man killed in ICE-involved shooting in Maine was not intended target of operation: Official The incident took place in Biddeford, Maine”
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the man who was killed was not the target of the operation and that ICE agents had been given a final order for another man they were targeting to be removed from the country.
ABC News identified the man killed as 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero, and the incident took place in Biddeford, Maine, as a large protest was underway Tuesday morning.
Witness Daniel Boucher told ABC News he watched agents pull the shooting victim from his car and put him on the ground, adding, “I heard the young man say, 'I tried to stop.'”
The BBC reported that ICE said the incident unfolded at around 07:00 EDT (11:00 GMT) on Monday in Biddeford, and that the driver of the vehicle was struck.
Conflicting accounts and scrutiny
DHS said the officer fired “fearing for public safety,” while King told CNN that the investigation would determine whether the driver tried to run over an ICE agent or posed danger to others.
ABC News reported that King said the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, and that the FBI would be leading the investigation because it was a federal operation.
The BBC said Maine’s top prosecutor, Aaron Frey, stated initial statements indicate “the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.”
In a separate development, the Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C., said it “deeply regrets the death of a Colombian national in Biddeford, Maine” and requested “information and clarification” from DHS.
Al Jazeera framed the killing as a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s crackdown, and it reported that the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave while the DHS Office of Inspector General investigates alongside the FBI.
What comes next in Maine
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office said initial statements indicate the suspect attempted to flee in the direction of an officer with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate, and that the officer who opened fire has been placed on leave.
“The fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Colombian man by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Maine has become the latest flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on foreign nationals”
Protests gathered in Biddeford after the shooting, and on Tuesday morning a large group of protesters gathered outside a federal immigration facility in Scarborough, Maine, about 11 miles north of Biddeford to call for an independent and transparent investigation.
ABC News reported that the Maine Attorney General’s Office confirmed the ICE operation was targeting a man related to a final order to remove him from the country, while Maine Gov. Janet Mills said she was briefed and that Maine State Police were at the scene supporting the Attorney General’s Office, Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and federal officials.
The BBC said the inspector general’s office for DHS is taking over the investigation because it resulted in a firearms “discharge,” and it reported that the name of the deceased man is not being released until he is formally identified and his family are notified.
In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that the killing has revived scrutiny of ICE operations, including a sharp increase in immigration arrests and mounting concern over deaths during ICE raids and other enforcement operations.
