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Biddeford ICE shooting
An ICE officer shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine, after federal agents tried to stop the vehicle he was driving, and the incident triggered protests and demands for an independent investigation.
“Man killed in ICE-involved shooting in Maine was not intended target of operation: Official The incident took place in Biddeford, Maine”
ABC News reported that Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said he was briefed by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and that Guerrero was not the intended target of the operation.
The Department of Homeland Security told ABC News that Guerrero "illegally entered the United States on September 1, 2023, via the southern border," and said he was granted a work permit in May of 2025.
ABC News also said the Monday incident marked the second fatal shooting in seven days involving ICE officers, after a July 7 fatal shooting in Houston of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, during a traffic stop.
In Biddeford, witnesses described the moment of the shooting aftermath, with Daniel Boucher telling ABC News that he heard the victim say, "I tried to stop."
Conflicting narratives
The accounts of why the officer fired diverged, with ABC News reporting King said Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use the vehicle as a weapon, while the Department of Homeland Security said the officer acted "fearing for public safety."
ABC News said King told reporters that "Body cameras were not on the agents," and that the FBI would be leading the investigation because it was a federal operation.
AP reported that Trump administration officials told ICE officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, and said the policy change came after the Maine shooting and a week after one in Houston.
AP also quoted an ICE spokesperson saying, "We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets," while noting the agency would not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics.
In Maine, protesters gathered outside an ICE detention center in Scarborough, and organizer Todd Chretien told the crowd, "These people are killers and they must leave our state now," as signs read "Stop the murder" and "End this terror."
Investigation and policy
The shooting also drew international reaction, with the Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C., telling ABC News it "deeply regrets the death of a Colombian national in Biddeford, Maine" and said it was providing consular assistance to his family.
ABC News reported that the embassy said it requested "information and clarification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the circumstances" and would continue to follow the case as the investigation progresses.
In Maine, the Maine Attorney General's Office confirmed to ABC News that the ICE operation on Monday morning was targeting a man related to a final order to remove him from the country.
AP said the officers involved in shooting in Biddeford didn’t have body cameras, leaving questions about how close the officer was to the vehicle when they fired and whether officers told Durán Guerrero to stop.
NBC News tied the controversy to the expedited Democratic primary for Senate, reporting that the fatal shooting in Biddeford inflamed the race with some candidates partly blaming Republican incumbent Susan Collins for voting last month to fund the agency without including policy restrictions.
