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State lawmaker says one person was killed by federal immigration agents in Biddeford, days after another ICE shooting in Texas.
One person was killed in a shooting involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maine, just days after an ICE agent shot and killed a 52-year-old Mexican national during an immigration operation in Houston, Texas.
While few details have been officially released about the Monday shooting in Biddeford, a town of 21,000 people about 24 km (15 miles) south of Portland.
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Advocacy groups identified the man as a 26-year-old Colombian national authorised to work in the United States and holding a Social Security number. His family has not publicly identified him.
Maine Governor Janet Mills said state police were working with the attorney general’s office, the chief medical examiner, the FBI and federal officials to determine what happened. The FBI is leading the investigation.
ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, while Biddeford police referred questions to ICE.
Speaking to reporters, Senator Angus King said Homeland Security Markwayne Mullins told him the agent opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE officers attempting to deport him.
King said the agents involved weren’t wearing body cameras and that investigators would need to determine whether the use of deadly force was justified.
“The question is, what did he do with his vehicle?” King told reporters. “Were officers threatened? Were the threats rising to the level that justified deadly force?”
“That’s what this investigation is all about, and I certainly intend to stay after it to do everything I can to be sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible.”
An eyewitness told Reuters he heard what sounded like firecrackers around 7:30 am before seeing a white SUV repeatedly ram a smaller white car, causing it to change direction.
Daniel Boucher, 71, said he then saw an ICE officer get out of the SUV, try to open the other car’s door and pull out a younger man who already had blood on his face and head before placing him on the ground.
“I remember hearing the victim say, ‘But I tried to stop,'” Boucher said.
He said an officer who appeared to have fired the shots looked “very distraught, almost in shock” and said the man had tried to ram or hit him. The wounded man later appeared to stop breathing, Boucher said.
“I’ll be very honest with you, I am not pro-ICE at all,” he added. “And I am a Democrat. But regardless of that, what I’m telling you is what I experienced today.”
Video posted to social media and verified by Reuters appeared to show a white car driving in circles as two men wearing tactical vests tried to stop it on foot. Photos from the scene showed what appeared to be bullet holes in the car’s windshield, and the vehicle stopped against a large white SUV with emergency lights flashing.
The shooting prompted an immediate reaction from Maine Democrat and US Congressional Representative Chellie Pingree, who said she was on her way to Washington when she learned about the reports.
“I am so deeply disturbed and angry,” Pingree said in a video posted to social media.
She said there were urgent questions that needed answering, including whether the person who was shot had a criminal record, whether the incident began as a routine traffic stop, whether officers were wearing body cameras, and how the shooting unfolded.
“But more than anything else, I want to know, ‘Why are you in Maine?’” Pingree said, adding that she was concerned the case could involve someone who was legally in the United States.
“My sympathy to the individual and their family and to the entire community of Biddeford,” she said. “We will be mourning yet another victim.”
Monday’s shooting came six days after an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston, an incident that sparked protests in the city.
ICE said the agent acted in self-defence after Salgado rammed a law enforcement vehicle and tried to run over an officer, but the agency has not released evidence supporting that account. Three eyewitnesses have disputed ICE’s version of events.
Since the beginning of June, ICE arrests in Maine have more than quadrupled to around 70 a day in early July, according to internal ICE data shared with Reuters, as US President Donald Trump has intensified immigration enforcement nationwide.
