Tensions Erupt in Maine: What Led to the Fatal Shooting of a Colombian National?

A Colombian national was shot dead Monday while trying to mow down ICE officers in Maine, officials said — with video showing the mortally wounded man being dragged from his car, falling to the ground and then being cuffed.

The chaos unfolded as ICE was surveilling the last known address of an illegal migrant with a deportation order in Biddeford at around 7 a.m., according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

Around that time, an “illegal alien” fled the home in a car and immigration officers gave chase, attempting to pull the man over, DHS said.

But the man tried to flee, and an ICE officer opened fire, striking the driver. 

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

“The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries.”

The Colombian national was identified by neighbors as 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, who lived with his wife and infant daughter, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Officials had not formally named the driver by Monday night.

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said hours after the shooting that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the shot man was the target of a warrant, CNN reported.  

King later said Mullin corrected that and told him there was no warrant out on the man, the outlet said.

Graphic footage on social media showed the shot man lying by the side of the road near his car, with a bullet hole visible through the driver’s side of the front windshield, after the deadly incident, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Officers in green vests surrounded the car and drew their weapons at the driver, who appeared to drive directly at them, said witness Lucas Scott, 18.

“The car was put into drive and was trying to hit the ICE officer,” Scott said, adding that an agent fired roughly four shots in response. 

“I just heard the popping, but I did see him draw his gun,” Scott said.

Ring-camera footage from a nearby house captured the sound of five or six gunshots at the time.

Another witness described seeing the driver get out of the car, bleeding profusely from his head.

“He said, ‘I tried to stop,’ ” nearby resident Daniel Boucher said.

The driver was authorized to work in the US and had been issued a Social Security number, according to Presente! Maine, a Portland-based aid organization.

“He was a member of our community, a neighbor, and a human being whose life was cut tragically short,” the organization said in a joint statement with the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, and everyone now grieving this unimaginable loss.”

Locals reported seeing an increase in ICE activity in Biddeford in recent weeks.

“They chased down a bunch of guys working on a roof down the street a week or two ago. They all ran. I saw one guy jump off the roof to get away. They left all their equipment on top of the roof,” Biddeford resident Larry Humiston told the Portland Press Herald.

Biddeford Police Department confirmed in a statement that the shooting involved ICE personnel and said it had responded to calls about the incident, adding that the force’s only involvement now is in scene security.

Crowds gathered at the scene of Monday’s shooting, some carrying anti-ICE placards.

Maine officials blasted immigration authorities in the aftermath of the shooting — with Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows promising that she’d “remain tough” on ICE in her follow-up to the shooting. 

“This man was their neighbor, and their kids play on that street and in the park where we gathered,” Bellows told CNN’s Jake Tapper. 

“I think everyone who let ICE and Trump deploy these men on the streets needs to be held accountable.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills also called out the “disturbing and infuriating” incident.

“[I]t underscores the reckless and haphazard manner in which immigration enforcement operations are being conducted in Maine and across the country,” Mills said in a post to her X account. “This has to end.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also ripped into the agency.

“ICE is killing our neighbors. ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE,” Hizzoner said in an X post.

The DHS Inspector General will investigate the shooting, the agency said.