ICE Shooting in Maine Kills Colombian Man Not Targeted in Raid

A fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13 left a 26-year-old Colombian national dead and immediately drew demands for a full independent review from state and federal officials. The man, identified by advocacy groups as authorized to work in the United States and living locally with his wife and three-year-old daughter, was not the individual agents had sought under a final removal order. Witnesses described seeing an unmarked white SUV with flashing lights and officers in green ICE vests surround a white sedan before hearing multiple gunshots around 7:20 a.m. local time.

Department of Homeland Security statements said agents were conducting surveillance at an address linked to the removal-order target when a vehicle departed and attempted to flee. An officer fired, citing concern for public safety; the driver was struck and later died. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey reported preliminary evidence that the vehicle moved toward the agent. Senator Angus King stated that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin initially described the man as the warrant target but later corrected that he was not. Agents at the scene did not wear body cameras.

Maine Governor Janet Mills called the death of someone outside the operation’s scope “even more disturbing.” The FBI, DHS Office of Inspector General, and Maine authorities opened parallel reviews; the involved agent was placed on administrative leave. Protests formed within hours, with demonstrators outside Senator Susan Collins’s office chanting against ICE funding. The incident followed a July 7 shooting in Houston of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a separate enforcement stop. Official accounts in both cases described vehicles moving toward agents; family members and passengers disputed those accounts in the Texas case.

Colombia’s embassy requested clarification from DHS. Advocacy organizations, including the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, confirmed the man held work authorization. No body-camera or dashboard footage has been released from the Maine encounter. Investigations remain active.