A person was killed Monday in a fatal shooting in Biddeford, Maine, involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who made the announcement on Facebook. The incident occurred at the intersection of Pool and Hill streets in the town located about 18 miles south of Portland.
Fecteau said in his statement that state police and the Department of Public Safety were on scene gathering details and that he expected the FBI to investigate. “These are the details that I have at this time. I will provide further updates, as they are relayed to me,” the Democratic lawmaker said.
The Biddeford Police Department confirmed the incident involved ICE personnel but said its role was limited to providing security at the scene. Inquiries about the incident were directed to ICE, which has not provided detailed statements to the public.
A witness told local media he was driving by the intersection around 7:20 a.m. when he saw an unmarked Ford Explorer with flashing lights and two officers wearing green ICE vests. The witness, Biddeford resident Lucas Scott, said he heard four shots after the officers surrounded a white sedan with weapons drawn. Another witness who lived near the intersection said he saw the victim get out of the car while bleeding profusely from the head.
The shooting prompted rapid organizing by community groups. Maine Resists and Indivisible Greater Portland held an emergency rally at noon at Mechanics Park on Water Street. Project Relief, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said it was in contact with the victim’s family and described the person killed as young. The group expressed its commitment to supporting the family during what it called an unimaginable time.
U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat whose 1st District covers Biddeford and southern Maine, posted a video on social media expressing deep concern about the shooting. She raised several questions about the incident, including whether officers were pursuing someone with a criminal record, whether it was a traffic stop, whether the officers were wearing body cameras, and why the person was shot. “More than anything else, I want to know, why are you in Maine?” Pingree said, directing the question at ICE agents.
The Biddeford shooting comes just days after another fatal ICE shooting in Houston that sparked mass protests and demands for accountability. On July 7, a 52-year-old construction worker named Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by an ICE officer during a traffic stop. The ICE officers involved in that shooting were not wearing body cameras. Video evidence and witnesses who were in the van disputed ICE’s account that Salgado Araujo attempted to ram the officer.
The Maine shooting marks at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE or U.S. Border Patrol agents since the beginning of the second Trump administration. It comes against a backdrop of heightened immigration enforcement in the state. Earlier this year, Maine became the site of “Operation Catch of the Day,” a concentrated ICE enforcement effort launched in January that the Trump administration said targeted the “worst of the worst” criminal immigrants. However, court records showed that among the nearly 200 people detained during that surge, only 11 had criminal convictions, undercutting the agency’s claims.
The surge was cut short after just a week amid nationwide pushback against ICE tactics following fatal shootings of two people during immigration operations in Minneapolis. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows tweeted Monday that this latest shooting represents at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE or Border Patrol under Trump. “It’s time to get ICE off our streets,” she wrote.
Federal authorities with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to requests for comment about the Biddeford shooting. The Maine Attorney General’s Office said information would be shared when timing was appropriate. The FBI has taken over the investigation.