Immigration agent fatally shoots man in Biddeford during enforcement operation

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man at the intersection of Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford after the man tried to flee in a vehicle during an enforcement operation. The shooting drew Maine State Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and federal officials to the scene south of Portland.

Gov. Janet Mills said Maine State Police were working with state and federal investigators and called the episode “alarming and frightening.” The Maine Attorney General’s Office said Biddeford and Saco police were also assisting as it examined the use of force by the federal agent who fired the shot. The agent will be placed on leave while the case is investigated.

Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the man was not the target of the warrant. King also said the agents were not wearing body cameras, leaving no video record of the encounter. King said the man was shot after federal agents tried to stop the vehicle he was driving, and that the vehicle was “weaponized.”

Immigrant-rights groups identified the dead man as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian father who was authorized to work in the United States and had a Social Security number. Community members and protesters gathered in Biddeford and outside Sen. Susan Collins’ office, pressing for a transparent and independent investigation.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office said the ICE agent was carrying out an enforcement operation connected to a final order of removal when the man attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was shot. The Biddeford death came days after a fatal ICE shooting in Houston, making it the second death in a week involving an ICE agent firing into a vehicle.