A 26-year-old Colombian national was shot dead by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Monday morning in the coastal town of Biddeford, Maine. The man, identified by Colombian and US advocacy groups as Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, was driving a white sedan when agents, who were conducting surveillance at a residence for a different individual with a deportation order, attempted to stop his vehicle. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the driver attempted to flee and an officer discharged his weapon, “fearing for public safety.” Guerrero died at the scene. Witnesses described hearing multiple gunshots and seeing his wife and three-year-old daughter in the immediate aftermath.

Conflicting accounts quickly emerged over the victim’s immigration status and the circumstances of the shooting. The Colombian embassy in Washington confirmed the death and requested clarification from US authorities. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and other advocacy groups stated that Guerrero was authorised to work in the United States and held a Social Security number, while ICE described him as an “illegal alien” with a final order of removal. Senator Angus King of Maine said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the victim was not the intended target of the arrest warrant the agents were executing. Security camera footage verified by Reuters shows a white SUV ramming the sedan and agents pulling the man out, but the moment of the shooting is not clearly visible. The agents were not wearing body cameras, leaving key details unverified.

Within a day, ICE instructed its Enforcement and Removal Operations officers to suspend most vehicle stops nationwide, pending new training. The directive, confirmed by multiple US media outlets, allows exceptions only for stops conducted with partner agencies when executing criminal warrants. The move marks a significant tactical shift for an agency that has relied heavily on traffic stops to boost arrests under the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. A senior ICE source told Fox News the change was “horrible but needs to happen,” while a spokesperson said the agency is “always evaluating our procedures.”

The Maine shooting came six days after ICE agents killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas. In that case, officials said the man tried to ram an officer, but witnesses and passengers disputed the account. With these two deaths, at least nine people have been fatally shot by ICE since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to tallies by US media. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general are investigating the Biddeford shooting, and the Maine attorney general’s office is conducting a separate review. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave. Protests erupted in Biddeford and Portland, with demonstrators demanding accountability and an end to ICE’s aggressive tactics.