Another person was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday, making this the ninth human being to senselessly die at the hands of the United States government. 

Maine Resident Murdered by ICE

The Biddeford man killed had been identified as a 26-year-old Colombian native, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, whom ICE agents thought was the person they were trying to serve an arrest warrant upon, and when he attempted to “flee” the scene, they shot him. 

The Colombian Embassy is working with the U.S. authorities and “providing the necessary consular assistance to his family.” In response to this tragic death, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an official statement via X, the most popular platform for government officials to share important information, stating ICE agents were surveilling an address that belonged to a person ordered for final removal from the country.

ICE attempted to stop a vehicle that began driving from that address, but the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department wrote.

Investigation Opened

Before the brief and insulting statement made on behalf of ICE, Maine U.S. Senator Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed the agent opened fire because the man driving the vehicle attempted to use it as a weapon, heading in their direction. 

Since the ICE agents did not have body cameras on, and they murdered the victim, an investigation was opened to determine what actually happened. “Did this young man actually try to run over an ICE agent or was he in danger of running over other people in the street?” King said. “Was there a reasonable expectation of bodily harm or deadly force to justify this shooting?”

Mullin reportedly told King that officers were serving an arrest warrant on someone, but it was not Guerrero who was murdered by the agents. Any information provided earlier claiming the victim was ICE’s department was false.

Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins was also told by Mullin that the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General is cooperating with the FBI in its investigation. In addition, the Maine attorney general’s office is investigating and, in its initial statements, suggests the motorist was fleeing toward the agent. 

Site Witness Heard a Pop

Witness Daniel Boucher, who heard the altercation from his third-floor unit, said he heard a “pop, pop, pop” sound and looked out to see a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb,” with an SUV behind it. The small car driver was wounded and continued moving down the street until the SUV rammed it.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said emotionally. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’” One of the ICE agents brought a medical bag over to the victim, who was lying on the ground, dead, waiting on an ambulance and fire truck to arrive. 

When the agent who allegedly shot and killed Guerrero walked closer to him, Boucher became angry and told him off. “I was emotional, and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

In video surveillance obtained by the AP, a white vehicle is seen slowly approaching an intersection before circling a few times. The ICE agent-filled SUV blocked the vehicle, and two officers opened the driver’s door to drag out a limp body. It is not immediately clear when the driver was shot in the video.

Character Witnesses Speak

ICE has been a significant problem in Maine, with over 500 arrests and several senseless deaths. Almost half of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, but advocacy groups in the state said that their most recent victim was authorized to work in the U.S.

After the fatal shooting, the victim’s family was not ready to publicly speak on it, but contacted the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the organization’s executive director, Mufalo Chitam, said. 

Mary Hayes, a neighbor, said the man lived with his wife and daughter nearby. “I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Hayes told the AP. “I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she’s never going to see her father again.”

A laundromat owner in the area, Sadie Dilboy, spoke on the victim’s character and how he would give his daughter quarters for candy whenever they came in to do their laundry. “He was such a good person,” she said. “He was always cleaning up.”

Immigrants Built This Nation

Immigrants in the U.S.  are not going anywhere, and it will always be a nation built by immigrants. They are one of the backbones that keep the country running, and instead of killing them, we should be letting them do what they came here to do. This does not apply to those with serious criminal backgrounds, but that does not seem to matter to U.S. officials. 

ICE agents should be more properly trained in these situations, and not just an ordinary Joe the government picked up off the side of the road. Like all law enforcement officials, you need to make sure you have the right person before making an irreversible decision.

Unfortunately, and this is speculation, but Joan Sebastian Guerrero likely feared for his life just as much as the ICE agents supposedly did. It is known they are not looking for criminals based on evidence, but based on skin color. No one knows what would have happened to Guerrero had he been apprehended; it might have been worse than death.