A civil rights organization contradicts ICE, stating the victim held a Social Security number and had the right to work in the country.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed a person who was attempting to drive away from their residence in Biddeford, Maine.
“ICE was conducting targeted surveillance at the last known address of an undocumented foreign national with a final order of removal. An undocumented foreign national left the residence in a vehicle. ICE agents attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle tried to flee the scene, and, fearing for public safety, an agent fired their weapon,” the Department of Homeland Security—the agency overseeing ICE—reported on social media.
As a result, “the driver was wounded,” the department stated, noting that “emergency services were contacted immediately,” but the victim “died from their injuries.”
Following the shooting, which occurred around 7:00 a.m. (local time) on Monday, the “Biddeford Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) responded to the scene.” The incident is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, according to the department.
Maine Senator Angus King (Independent) stated that, during a conversation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, he learned the victim was “a man in his 20s” who “had received an order to leave the country.”
“He was in a vehicle, he exited the vehicle, and—in the words of the Secretary—he ‘used the vehicle as a weapon,’ and an ICE agent shot him,” read the statement released by the senator’s office recounting the conversation with the Secretary. According to him, King has demanded “a full, transparent, and open investigation” into the events, even though this presents a “problem”: “Apparently, there are no cameras. The officers were not wearing body cameras. So, we have no video evidence of what happened in this case,” he explained.
Given this situation, he has called for state and local authorities to participate in the investigations and to be kept informed of their progress.
THE VICTIM: A 26-YEAR-OLD COLOMBIAN WITH THE RIGHT TO WORK IN THE U.S.
Mullin’s account, as relayed by King, conflicts with the claims made by the civil rights organizations Presente! and the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition (MIRC). They issued a joint statement asserting that the victim was a 26-year-old man from Colombia who held a Social Security number and the right to work in the United States.
“The Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine are appalled and outraged by the death of a 26-year-old Colombian man during a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Biddeford on the morning of July 13, 2026,” the statement reads.
In the statement, Presente!—which noted on social media that the man had his “three-year-old daughter in the back seat”—asserts that it has confirmed “the young man was authorized to work in the United States and had been assigned a Social Security number.”
“He was a member of our community, a neighbor, and a human being whose life was tragically cut short,” both organizations emphasized, before extending their “deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, and all those now mourning this unimaginable loss.” In this vein, they have called for “a prompt, independent, and transparent investigation; full accountability from every agency and agent involved; and the preservation of all body-camera footage, surveillance recordings, communications, and other evidence,” as well as “the timely release of the findings.”
However, they have expressed their opposition to having “ICE investigate itself or control the public narrative surrounding a death involving its personnel or operations.”
