DHS says officer feared for public safety in Maine ICE shooting

DHS and ICE spent hours without a full account after an enforcement officer shot and killed a man on a residential street in Biddeford, Maine, shortly after 7 a.m. Monday near Pool Street and Hill Street.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office said an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer was carrying out an enforcement action tied to a final order of removal when the subject tried to flee in a vehicle toward the officer and was fatally shot. The FBI, the attorney general’s office, DHS, the Biddeford Police Department, the Saco Police Department and the Maine State Police are investigating. The officer involved was taken off duty under standard protocol, and officials said ICE officers at the scene were not wearing body cameras.

Neighbors and immigrant advocates identified the dead man as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia. Advocates said he had work authorization in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number. The Embassy of Colombia in the United States said it was helping the family and had asked DHS for clarification.

Sen. Angus King said he was first told the man killed in Biddeford was the target of an arrest warrant based on immigration status. Later Monday, King said he was told by Markwayne Mullin that the victim was not the target of the warrant, a correction his office said came later in the day.

Witnesses described a chaotic aftermath on the residential street, and one witness told investigators and reporters he saw the victim bleeding from the head. By afternoon and evening, residents were gathering downtown and later outside Sen. Susan Collins’s office. Biddeford Mayor Marty LaFountain praised residents for exercising their First Amendment rights peacefully and said he would not rest until there was a complete and transparent account of what happened.

CNN said four people have been killed this year in shootings by federal agents tied to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Reuters reported the Biddeford killing came six days after a separate fatal ICE shooting in Houston, where officials also faced questions over whether the man killed was the original target of the operation.