Key facts
- ICE agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national, in Biddeford, Maine.
- The shooting occurred during an immigration enforcement operation where agents were surveilling a home.
- DHS stated the driver attempted to flee in a vehicle, prompting the officer to fire.
- Senator Angus King stated the officer fired after the driver attempted to use the vehicle as a weapon.
- The officers involved lacked body cameras.
- Immigrant rights groups claim Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S.
Immigrant rights groups are demanding answers and planning protests following the fatal shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Biddeford, Maine. The shooting occurred Monday during an immigration enforcement operation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that an ICE officer, fearing for public safety, shot and killed the driver. According to the department, agents were watching the home of an individual believed to be in the U.S. illegally with a final order of removal. When agents attempted to stop the vehicle driven by Guerrero, he allegedly tried to flee, leading the officer to fire his weapon.
Maine Senator Angus King reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin informed him the officer opened fire after Guerrero attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents. King also noted that the officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant, but not for Guerrero himself.
Questions remain regarding the proximity of the officer to the vehicle when the shots were fired, whether officers ordered Guerrero to stop, and if the public was in danger. The officers involved were not equipped with body cameras.
The Maine attorney general’s office, which is also investigating, stated that initial information suggests the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of an agent. The officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on leave.
Immigrant rights groups identified Guerrero as a native of Colombia and claimed he was authorized to work in the U.S. The Colombian Embassy confirmed it is in contact with U.S. authorities and is assisting Guerrero's family.
Video footage from a nearby business's security camera shows a white vehicle making slow circles at an intersection before a law enforcement SUV blocked its path. Officers then removed a body from the vehicle. It is unclear from the video when the shots were fired.
A witness, Daniel Boucher, reported hearing a "pop, pop, pop" sound and seeing the SUV ram Guerrero's vehicle. Boucher stated he heard the victim say, 'I tried to stop.' He also recounted an exchange with an agent who said, 'He tried to run me over.'
Another witness, Mary Hayes, who lives near the scene, said Guerrero lived nearby with his wife and daughter and described seeing his wife fall to her knees upon seeing her husband's body.
The shooting follows a similar incident last week in Texas where an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. These incidents occur amid the Trump administration's focus on mass deportations, with ICE arresting over 10,000 people in a five-day period at the end of June.