(BIDDLEFORD, Maine) — Protesters are expected to gather Tuesday morning in Maine, a day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said he was briefed on the deadly encounter by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, who confirmed that ICE agents conducting an operation in the area were involved in the shooting.
The man who was killed was identified as 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a spokesperson for King’s office told ABC News.
King said Guerrero was fatally shot after federal agents tried to stop the vehicle he was driving.
“He was in a vehicle — pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent,” King told reporters Monday morning.
King told ABC News that Guerrero was not the target of the operation and that ICE agents had been given a final order for another man they were targeting to be removed from the country.
King previously said that Mullin initially told him Guerrero was the intended target of the operation.
“Body cameras were not on the agents. So we have no video evidence of what occurred in this case,” King said. “State and local officials, of course, are attending to it. The FBI will be leading the investigation because it was a federal operation.”
Two Maine immigration advocacy groups — Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC) and the Presente! — issued a joint statement Monday, saying the individual who was killed was a Colombian man whom they claimed was authorized to work in the United States and had a Social Security number.
The groups called for a “prompt, independent, and transparent investigation.” They also called for a full accounting of every agency and officer involved as well as the preservation of all body-camera footage, surveillance footage, and communications between the federal officials involved.
“ICE must not be allowed to investigate itself or control the public narrative surrounding a death in which its personnel or operations were involved,” the groups said.
The Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C., issued a statement Monday on social media, saying it “deeply regrets the death of a Colombian national in Biddeford, Maine, and is providing the necessary consular assistance to his family.”
The embassy said it has also requested “information and clarification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the circumstances surrounding this lamentable death and will continue to follow the case closely as the investigation progresses.”
Witness Daniel Boucher told ABC News that he watched agents pull the shooting victim from his car and put him on the ground.
“I heard the young man say, ‘I tried to stop.’ I clearly heard him say that,” said Boucher, adding that he overheard one of the ICE agents allegedly say the driver tried to run him over.
“I could no longer see any movement, which meant he had expired,” an emotional Boucher said. “He was bloody, his face was bloody. It was awful.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Mechanics Park in Biddeford on Monday for an impromptu vigil and demanded justice for Guerrero. Another protest is being planned for Tuesday morning outside a federal immigration facility in Scarborough, Maine, according to organizers.
The Maine Attorney General’s Office also released a statement, confirming that the ICE operation on Monday morning was targeting a man related to a final order to remove him from the country.
The Attorney General’s Office alleged, “the suspect attempted to flee in the vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.”
Maine Gov. Janet Mills said she was also briefed on the shooting and was informed that federal law enforcement was involved.
“I know situations like these are alarming and frightening,” Mills said in a statement. “The Maine State Police are at the scene supporting and working cooperatively with the Attorney General’s Office, Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and Federal officials to determine the facts of what occurred this morning.”
The FBI said the agency “responded to assist on-scene immediately following this morning’s shooting incident in Biddeford, Maine. We have no additional comment at this time.”
An ICE spokesperson provided ABC News with the agency’s preliminary alleged version of the incident.
“On July 13, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM ET, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal,” the ICE spokesperson said. “An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon.”
The ICE spokesperson added, “The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries.”
The spokesperson did not confirm that the man who was shot was not the person targeted in the ICE operation.
A bystander video verified by ABC News showed what appeared to be federal immigration agents and uniformed law enforcement officers in the aftermath of the shooting performing first aid on an individual on the ground at an intersection.
A Ring camera video obtained by ABC News from a residence near the shooting scene captured the sound of what appeared to be at least five gunshots. Several bullet holes could be seen in the the front windshield of the victim’s car following the shooting.
Em Akerley, who lives near the shooting scene, told ABC affiliate station WMTW that she was inside her home having her morning coffee when she heard the gunshots.
“I thought it was a backfire, and then I kept hearing them,” Akerley said. “I thought it was a drive-by shooting.”
She said she looked out her window and saw a small white car being corralled by two men, who appeared to be trying to stop the vehicle from losing control in the intersection.
“All of a sudden, all of these plainclothes vested men started running down the street, abandoning their cars,” Akerley said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to add Sen. King’s comments saying the deceased, later identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, was not the intended target of the operation.
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