{"id":138993,"date":"2026-07-14T08:20:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T14:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/many-questions-remain-after-an-ice-officers-fatal-shooting-of-a-maine-driver\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T08:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T14:20:31","slug":"many-questions-remain-after-an-ice-officers-fatal-shooting-of-a-maine-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/many-questions-remain-after-an-ice-officers-fatal-shooting-of-a-maine-driver\/","title":{"rendered":"Many questions remain after an ICE officer’s fatal shooting of a Maine driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A demonstrator fights back tears at an anti-ICE rally after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) \u2014 Immigrant rights groups are demanding answers and planning more protests Tuesday over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> officer’s fatal shooting of a Maine driver.<\/p>\n

The shooting Monday during an immigration enforcement operation in the city of Biddeford marked the second time in a week<\/a> that ICE used deadly force and at least the ninth death since President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer \u201cfearing for public safety\u201d shot and killed the driver<\/a> while agents were watching the home of someone they believed was in the country illegally and had a final order of removal from the country.<\/p>\n

The department said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop the vehicle driven by someone coming from the home, the vehicle attempted to flee and the officer fired his weapon.<\/p>\n

That statement came hours after Maine Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him that the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents.<\/p>\n

King said Mullin also told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the person who was shot.<\/p>\n

The officers involved didn\u2019t have body cameras<\/a>, leaving many questions surrounding the circumstances of the shooting in the coastal community south of Portland, Maine’s biggest city.<\/p>\n

It’s not clear yet how close the officer was to the vehicle when the officer opened fire, whether officers told the driver to stop or how the public may have been in danger.<\/p>\n

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.<\/p>\n

The Maine attorney general\u2019s office, which is also investigating, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent. The office said the officer who killed him has been placed on leave.<\/p>\n

Immigrant rights groups identified the man who was killed as a 26-year-old native of Colombia. The Colombian Embassy said it was in contact with U.S. authorities about the man’s death and providing assistance to his family.<\/p>\n

Maine’s other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.<\/p>\n

Video from a security camera at a nearby business, obtained by The Associated Press, shows a white vehicle approaching an intersection at a modest speed before making several slow circles. A law enforcement SUV blocked its path and two officers open the driver\u2019s door and dragged out a limp body.<\/p>\n

It isn’t clear from the video when the shots were fired.<\/p>\n

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a \u201cpop, pop, pop\u201d sound. He saw the SUV moving down the street until the SUV hit it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis face was bloody. His head was bloody,\u201d Boucher said, getting choked up. \u201cI clearly heard the victim say, \u2018I tried to stop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, \u2018He tried to run me over,\u2019 or something to that effect,\u201d Boucher said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember his exact words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two advocacy groups \u2014 the Maine Immigrants\u2019 Rights Coalition and Presente! \u2014 said the man who was killed was authorized to work in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Mary Hayes, who lives close to the scene, said the man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband\u2019s dead body on the ground,\u201d Hayes told the AP as she held a sign saying \u201cNo ICE Stop ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just last week in Texas, an ICE officer fatally shot<\/a> 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.<\/p>\n

The two shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportations agenda. Over five days at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, arrests are surging. The administration\u2019s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings<\/a> of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Willingham reported from Boston and Brook reported from New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\"Blood
Blood is seen on the pavement near the scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monday, July 13, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Attendees
Attendees stand during a vigil after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A woman prays after leaving flowers near the scene where a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Protesters
Protesters gather at a park near the scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monday, July 13, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A demonstrator fights back tears at an anti-ICE rally after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty) BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) \u2014 Immigrant rights groups are demanding answers and planning more protests Tuesday over an Immigration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-138993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138993"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=138993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}