BIDDEFORD, United States — A person was killed on Monday in a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Biddeford, Maine, marking the second fatal ICE-involved shooting in less than a week and sparking renewed outrage and demands for accountability.
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau confirmed the incident in a social media post, stating, “A person was killed. ICE was involved.” He added that state police and the Department of Public Safety were at the scene and that the FBI is expected to investigate.
The shooting occurred on Monday morning in Biddeford, a city of approximately 23,000 people located about 15 miles southwest of Portland. A witness told the Biddeford Gazette that he saw an unmarked Ford Explorer with flashing lights and officers wearing green ICE vests surrounding a white sedan at around 7:20 a.m. The witness reported hearing four shots after the officers drew their weapons. Photos circulating online show an unmarked white SUV against a white sedan, with apparent front-end damage.
The incident comes just days after an ICE agent in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three, during a traffic stop. Araujo was reportedly on his way to work when he was killed. While ICE initially described it as a targeted operation, a source later confirmed Araujo was not the intended target. Witnesses have disputed the agency’s claim that he attempted to weaponize his vehicle.
The Biddeford shooting is at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE or Border Patrol agents since the beginning of the Trump administration, according to a review by The Guardian. This includes the earlier killings of 37-year-old Renee Good and 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. No body cameras were worn by the agents involved in the Houston shooting due to what DHS blamed on a partial government shutdown.
The fatal shootings have intensified scrutiny on the agency’s tactics, with ICE having accelerated arrests to meet a mandate of at least 2,000 daily detentions, pushing the number of people in detention to over 63,000. Protests were quickly organized in Biddeford following Monday’s shooting, with a rally planned at Mechanics Park. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree has demanded answers, asking, “Why are you in Maine?”
ICE, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security have yet to provide detailed comments. The FBI is expected to lead the investigation into Monday’s fatal shooting.
