A Colombian migrant, who was just 26 years old, lost his life in an altercation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maine. The tragic incident unfolded right before the eyes of his young daughter, still in her pajamas.
Despite possessing permission to work legally in the U.S. and holding a social security number, the man faced an order mandating his departure from the country, although his identity remains undisclosed.
A Maine senator, Angus King, disclosed that the deceased was wanted by law enforcement and the focal point of an ICE operation on Monday morning, which inevitably resulted in his death.
The reasons behind the deportation decision remain unclear and unverified. Initial details about the man began surfacing as unsettling video footage emerged, depicting his white Kia sedan driving in circles while being pursued by officers.
According to a witness, the incident reached its fatal conclusion when the man, operating his vehicle in Biddeford, was shot shortly after 7 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday. The confrontation escalated after he reportedly ignored commands from ICE agents and accelerated towards them.
Another eyewitness, Cecilia Humiston, 22, told the Portland Press-Herald that the shooting tragically unfolded in front of the migrant’s family, including his toddler daughter who was wearing Bluey pajamas.
Humiston said an older woman was at the scene yelling at the ICE officers, ‘You took her dad, you took her dad’, and claimed a ‘rude’ officer also yelled at the young girl as she tried to smell flowers nearby.
It comes as new footage from the scene showed the victim’s white Kia driving slowly in circles at an intersection, as an ICE agent runs alongside the vehicle.
It is unclear if the footage was taken before or after the driver was shot, with lawmakers calling for urgent answers.
New footage shows a Kia being driven around in circles around the time its owner was shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Biddeford, Maine on Monday
A driver was shot dead by ICE officers in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday morning after allegedly trying to mow down agents with his car
Footage circulating social media showed a man laying by the side of the road as police and ICE agents provided aid and consoled each other
Locals say ICE had been operating in the town for about a week although it is unclear if Monday’s fatal incident was a random encounter that spiraled out of control or if the Kia driver had set out to confront officers.
Separate Ring camera footage obtained from inside a nearby home by The Maine Wire captured the sound of the deadly confrontation, as a barrage of around five shots were fired rapidly.
Photos taken in the aftermath showed a bullet hole on the windshield of the white Kia sedan being driven by the victim when he was killed.
A witness told the Portland Press-Herald that the man emerged from the car bleeding profusely from his head moments after the shooting.
Photos taken from the scene show the victim lying on a nearby road, as ICE agents and police consoled each other.
Witness Lucas Scott, 18, told the Press Herald that he was driving through the intersection moments before the shooting, and saw a group of unmarked vehicles descend on another car.
He said he saw agents in ICE uniforms confronting the driver of the vehicle, seconds before an agent pulled his weapon and ordered the man to exit his car.
‘The car was put into drive and was trying to hit the ICE officer,’ Scott said. He said he then heard the ICE agent fire several shots quickly.
Details of the fatal shooting are still developing, and lawmakers have called for answers as to what the ICE agents were doing in the small Maine town or why the driver’s vehicle was targeted
Agents hugging each other in footage taken in the aftermath of the shooting
Investigators at the scene on Monday
Two women hug each other near the scene of the deadly shooting
Mary Hayes, a resident who lives near the scene, told the Press Herald that she did not see the agent open fire, but arrived in time to see the victim lying in the street.
‘There’s a dead body down there,’ she said.
‘I mean, we live in Maine. We don’t expect this to happen here. What have we come to?’ she added.
Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said she was ‘deeply disturbed and angry’ by the news.
‘I, of course, need to know all of the answers here,’ the Democrat said.
Pingree said she wanted to know if the ICE agents were pursuing a migrant with a criminal record or if the shooting was a routine traffic stop, but added, ‘More than anything else, I want to know why you’re in Maine?’
‘Every report we hear is about somebody being picked up who legally was here, and is this going to be another one of those stories?’
Officers at the scene of the shooting on Monday morning, after witnesses said they saw the victim ‘trying to hit the ICE officer’ with his car
A witness said he saw the driver ‘trying to hit the ICE officer’, moments before hearing an agent fire roughly four shots
Maine’s House Speaker Ryan Fecteau said he was waiting to hear details over what led to the deadly shooting, saying in a short statement: ‘A person was killed. ICE was involved.
‘State Police and the Department of Public Safety are now on scene to gather details and would expect the FBI to investigate as well. These are the details that I have at this time. I will provide further updates, as they are relayed to me.’
It comes just days after an ICE agent fatally shot a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston, which sparked mass protests.
Scrutiny on ICE activities was also compounded by the fatal shootings of anti-ICE protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota earlier this year.
The shooting on Monday has quickly led to calls for protest, with the social justice group Biddeford Saco for Racial Justice saying on Facebook that it would be holding a demonstration within a matter of hours.
‘Folks are really upset,’ the group said. ‘I imagine there will be more.’