One man has been killed in a shootout with United States immigration agents in Maine, the state’s top lawyer said.
“There was a shooting this morning in Biddeford. One person is dead. ICE was involved,” House Speaker Ryan Fecteau wrote on Facebook.
Biddeford police declined to comment and referred inquiries to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FBI said it responded immediately to assist at the shooting scene but did not provide any additional information.
What do we know about the shooting
Senator Angus King of Maine said Homeland Security Secretary Markway Mullin told him that the agent opened fire in Biddeford after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against agents who were pursuing him for deportation.
The agents involved in the shooting did not have body-worn cameras, King said.
Lucas Scott, a witness to Monday’s shooting, told local media that he heard four shots after several ICE agents surrounded a white car.
The man shot was a 26-year-old man from Colombia, according to advocacy groups Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition and Presente! He said he was authorized to work in the US and had a Social Security number.
Immigrant rights group Project Relief said in a social media post that a member of its community was killed during a encounter with ICE in Biddeford and that it was in contact with the man’s family.
“This was a young man whose life was cut short,” the group said, calling for justice and support for the family and community.
Maine Governor Janet Mills said she had been briefed about the fatal shooting “involving federal law enforcement” and that state officials were working with federal authorities to determine what happened.
Trump’s immigration action accelerates
The shooting comes days after ICE agents shot a man during a vehicle stop in Texas. Authorities later said the man was not the intended target.
If an ICE officer fired the fatal shot, it would be at least the ninth death, including the killings of Alex Pretty and Renee Good in Minnesota, linked to an encounter with federal immigration officials since President Donald Trump began the immigration crackdown.
It also comes amid recently stepped-up anti-immigration efforts by the Trump administration.
Since the beginning of June, ICE arrests in Maine have more than quadrupled to nearly 70 per day in early July, according to
Internal ICE data shared by a source with Reuters news agency.
edited by: Jennifer Camino Gonzalez
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