A 26-year-old Colombian man was shot dead by a US immigration agent in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday morning, according to state officials and immigrant advocacy groups. The man, whom the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine described as authorised to work in the United States and in possession of a Social Security number, has not been formally identified by authorities. The Colombian embassy in Washington said it was working to confirm his identity and nationality.

Conflicting accounts have emerged over the circumstances of the shooting. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were conducting targeted surveillance at an address linked to a final order of removal when an individual left the residence in a vehicle, attempted to flee, and an agent fired “fearing for public safety.” Maine’s attorney general’s office said the subject of the operation had tried to drive toward the officer. However, Senator Angus King of Maine, after speaking with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, told reporters that the man who was killed was not the subject of the warrant the agents were executing—a detail that Mullin later corrected, according to King’s office, though the precise sequence remains unclear.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene. Lucas Scott, who observed the encounter, said he heard at least four gunshots after seeing several agents in ICE vests surround a white sedan. Another resident, Daniel Boucher, told the Associated Press he heard the victim say “I tried to stop” before he stopped moving. Boucher said an agent later told him the man had tried to run him over. Video footage verified by Reuters shows a white car moving in slow circles while agents on foot attempt to intercept it; photographs of the scene show bullet holes in the vehicle’s windshield. Senator King confirmed that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras.

The shooting comes six days after an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston—an incident that sparked protests and calls for independent investigations. In Biddeford, demonstrators gathered within hours, marching to the office of Republican Senator Susan Collins and demanding accountability. Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, said state police were working with federal authorities to determine the facts, and the FBI has opened an investigation. The agent who fired has been placed on administrative leave, standard protocol in such cases. No official cause or manner of death has been released, and the investigation remains ongoing.