An ICE agent fatally shot 26-year-old Colombian man Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13, 2026, during an immigration enforcement operation, officials said [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The shooting occurred around 7 a.m. local time when the man attempted to flee an ICE stop in a vehicle, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said, stating "the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot" [1].
ICE said the officer fired because the vehicle appeared to have been weaponized and posed a public safety threat [1, 2, 6, 5, 7]. However, witnesses disputed the claim, describing the vehicle as moving slowly or in circles without aggression. Biddeford witness Daniel Boucher said the victim "was bleeding profusely from the head... He was talking. He said, ‘I tried to stop.’" [6, 5]. Some officials initially said Durán Guerrero was the target of the operation, while others indicated he may not have been the original focus [1, 2, 8, 5].
Advocates reported Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a valid Social Security number [1, 2, 8, 5]. The man’s family and local organizations identified him by name following the fatal shooting [8, 7]. The ICE agent involved has been placed on leave pending investigation [1].
Federal and state authorities, including the FBI and Maine Attorney General’s office, are investigating the incident [1, 2, 6, 5, 9]. The shooting has sparked protests in Biddeford, with political leaders calling for accountability and the abolition of ICE. Maine Governor Janet Mills said, "ICE needs to be fundamentally reformed, and if not, then it is time to abolish it" [8]. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows added, "This is not acceptable in America. A young man, a dad, has been killed by ICE...This must stop" [9]. House Speaker Ryan Fecteau noted, "This morning a shooting occurred in Biddeford. A person was killed. ICE was involved" [2].
The killing drew international condemnation. Colombian President Gustavo Petro called it "a murder of a Colombian, a Latin American, at the hands of the US government" and demanded accountability from Washington [7].
This incident came just six days after ICE agents fatally shot a Mexican man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, during a separate immigration operation in Houston, Texas [3, 6, 8, 5]. At least nine deaths have been tied to immigration enforcement operations linked to former President Trump's policies by mid-2026 [6].
Biddeford lies roughly 15 to 25 kilometers from Portland, Maine’s largest city, where the fallout from the shooting remains intense [1, 3, 4]. Investigations by federal and state officials are ongoing with no announced timeline for completion [1, 2, 6, 5, 9].
