ICE-Involved Shooting in Biddeford, Maine, Kills One, Sparking FBI Investigation
An ICE agent fatally shot a man in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday morning, marking the second deadly shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in less than a week, following a similar shooting in Houston last Tuesday.
The shooting occurred at the intersection of Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford, a coastal town of about 21,000 residents roughly 15 miles south of Portland. The Maine Attorney General's office said an officer with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division was carrying out a removal order when "the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot." Maine Gov. Janet Mills said she had been briefed on the incident, and state police are cooperating with local and federal officials as part of the investigation, which the FBI is leading.
Who Was Killed
Two immigrant advocacy organizations, the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition and Presente!, identified the man killed as a 26-year-old Colombian national who they said was authorized to work in the U.S. and had been issued a Social Security number. Ruben Torres, advocacy and policy manager at the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition, told NBC News the organization is waiting to notify the victim's family before releasing additional details. Maine Sen. Angus King, who said he was briefed on the incident by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, described the man as being in his 20s and said he had previously been ordered to leave the country.
According to King, Mullin told him the man "weaponized" his vehicle by driving toward the officer before he was shot. "He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was 'weaponized' the vehicle," King told reporters. "He was shot by an ICE agent. What I said to the secretary was we want a full, transparent and open investigation of this matter." King said the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, which he said concerned him.
Video from the scene, reviewed by multiple outlets, shows a car circling within an intersection near law enforcement vehicles before officers pull the driver from the car after it stops.
A Second Shooting in a Week
The Maine shooting follows the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston last Tuesday. ICE has said Salgado Araujo rammed a law enforcement vehicle and ignored verbal commands during what the agency described as a targeted enforcement operation, though a source familiar with the incident told CNN that Salgado Araujo was not actually the operation's intended target. That shooting prompted protests and a vigil outside Houston's city hall over the weekend, with demonstrators demanding accountability and transparency.
Neither shooting has been independently confirmed through released body camera footage, since agents in both incidents were not wearing cameras, according to officials briefed on the cases.
Political Reaction
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins called for "a full and impartial investigation of what happened" in Biddeford. Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain said he was "shaken" by news of the shooting and called for "a full, thorough and transparent investigation," with cooperation from state law enforcement. Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree said she was "disturbed and angry" upon learning of the shooting, and questioned ICE's presence in the state directly: "Why are you in Maine?"
Protester Katie Barrow, who gathered near the scene, told NBC Boston she was heartbroken over the death. "It's just disgusting," she said. "A badge and a gun are not a license to kill."
A Difficult Stretch for DHS Leadership
According to CNN, the back-to-back shootings represent a significant early test for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who took over the department in March following the departure of former Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem's tenure had been marked by intense scrutiny after ICE agents fatally shot two people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis earlier this year. Mullin has said publicly that one of his priorities was reducing the frequency with which ICE-related shootings made national headlines.
ICE has not yet issued an official public statement on the Biddeford shooting.
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