ICE agent involved in deadly Maine shooting was a new recruit, report says

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer involved in the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old father in Maine was reportedly hired by ICE this past year.

Monday morning, federal agents shot a man identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a Colombian native who had been living in the coastal city of Biddeford, Maine, with an authorized work visa and Social Security number, according to Maine Immigrants Rights, a local immigration advocacy group.

One ICE officer involved in the shooting previously worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs police, an unnamed senior official told The Atlantic Tuesday. The officer, who has not been publicly identified, has worked in federal law enforcement since 2017.

Hours after the deadly shooting, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin directed ICE to suspend all vehicle stops until further notice, The Daily Wire reported first.

The Independent has asked DHS for additional information.

Following the shooting, protesters in the area have reacted with devastation and anger, holding vigils and demanding accountability from DHS.

Throughout the evening, members of the community left flowers, candles, balloons and anti-ICE messages on the side of the road, at the scene where Guerrero was fatally shot.

Hundreds of other people gathered to remember Guerrero and express outrage at the latest ICE shooting in public spaces across the state.

At Mountment Square in Portland, locals listened as former Senator Troy Jackson urged people to stand “shoulder to shoulder,” according to a video from the Portland Press Herald.

At Mechanics Park in Biddeford, some members of the community chanted and sang songs calling for peace and love. However, anti-ICE protesters briefly clashed with pro-Trump counterprotesters, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Anti-ICE protesters also descended onto Republican Senator Susan Collins’ office, where they held signs demanding ICE leave and calling for due process in the investigation.

“Vote her out!” Some protesters chanted, according to a video.

Collins, a Republican, released a statement saying that the shooting “requires a full and impartial investigation.”

Guerrero’s death marks the 11th fatal shooting involving federal agents since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term and less than a week after the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father who lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years.

Guerrero was fatally shot around 7 a.m. ET Monday seemingly while driving his vehicle at an intersection on Pool Street.

ICE agents were conducting targeted surveillance on the home that they claim was the last known residence of an illegal immigrant who had a final order of removal. DHS said “an illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle” and did not stop even after ICE attempted to conduct a vehicle stop.

“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” DHS said in a statement.

DHS only acknowledged the deadly shooting on X at 6:40 p.m. ET Monday, nearly 12 hours after the shooting occurred.

Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Senator Angus King’s office, later told the New York Times that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the senator to inform him that the “victim was not the target of the warrant.”

In a video posted online, verified by Reuters, a white vehicle appears to ram into a smaller white car that was slowly turning in a circle while at an intersection.

In a separate video, the agents appear to remove Guerrero from his vehicle and put him in handcuffs on the ground after shooting him.

One witness, Daniel Boucher, told Reuters that he heard the victim tell law enforcement “I tried to stop” before he appeared to stop breathing.

Cecelia Humiston, a neighbor who saw the man lying on the street, told the Portland Press Herald Monday that a member of Guerrero’s family appeared distressed and was yelling, “You took her dad.”

“They were with a little girl, she couldn’t have been older than three,” Humiston said. “She was still in her Bluey pajamas.”

One man, named Jay Thomas McCue, told the Portland Press Herald that he heard gunshots early Monday from his home on Pool Street. When he looked out the window, he saw someone lying on the ground. McCue said the body remained on the ground for five hours and that there was a pool of blood extending five or six feet.

A portion of the sidewalk remained stained with blood throughout the afternoon, according to photos captured by the Associated Press.

Mullin, with support from Liana Castano, a top ICE official, had asked to temporarily halt vehicle stops.

A spokesperson for ICE told The Daily Wire it was “always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets,” adding that “We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics.”