ICE agent fatally shoots man during Maine traffic stop

BIDDEFORD, ME – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man during a traffic stop in Maine on July 15, less than a week after a federal immigration official shot and killed a man during a traffic stop in Houston.

The man killed in the Maine shooting was a 26-year-old native of Colombia with a work permit to be in the United States, according to immigrant rights groups. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, that the man "weaponized" his vehicle.

ICE used the term as recently as last week to describe what happened during the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7. Officials have previously used the term in accusing individuals of trying to strike or run over authorities.

But CNN and The Associated Press reported that Mullin later told King that ICE agents targeted the man after mistaking him for someone else. USA TODAY has reached out to King for comment.

ICE did not directly respond to questions about whether agents mistook the man for someone else.

The agency told USA TODAY that the man was targeted after leaving "the last known address of an illegal alien" who had been ordered to leave the country. "The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon," the agency said.

According to ICE, the shooting happened around 7 a.m. in the downtown area of Biddeford, a city about 15 miles south of Portland.

FBI officials are investigating the shooting, King said. The Maine Attorney General's Office said state and local police are also investigating.

According to the attorney general's office, the agent in the shooting has been placed on leave. USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for confirmation.

The Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition said the man who was killed was a "member of our community, a neighbor, and a human being whose life was cut tragically short."

The group added: "A 26-year-old man came to Maine to live and work, and now his family is mourning his death following an incident involving ICE. This is devastating, enraging, and unacceptable. His loved ones deserve answers, and the public deserves a full and transparent account of what happened."

Colombian embassy officials told USA TODAY that they are working to confirm the man's identity.

Shooting sparks protests

Protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting in Maine within hours. They chanted and held signs reading "Leave Biddo" and "ICE Out of Our Neighborhoods." Dozens also gathered at a nearby park, where a woman with a bullhorn shouted, "ICE shot and killed a man in Biddeford! Murder! Murder!" Several motorists honked in support as they drove by.

Among the protesters near the shooting scene was Kyle Billings, who said he thought he heard three or four gunshots shortly after waking up.

"Sure enough, that's what it was," he told the Portsmouth Herald, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Authorities again mistake identity, reports say

ICE agents targeted the man after mistaking him for someone else who had been ordered to leave the country, DHS boss Mullin told Sen. King, according to CNN and The Associated Press.

The case would mark the second time in less than a week that an ICE agent fatally shot a man after mistaking him for another individual. Homeland Security officials said Salgado Araujo was targeted by mistake in Houston.

DHS has not responded to USA TODAY requests for information on how the mistake in Houston was made and whether the agent behind the shooting remains on active duty.

ICE not wearing body cameras

Sen. King confirmed that authorities involved in the incident were not wearing body cameras. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the deployment of body cameras in February, after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration officers in Minneapolis.

"We've been told that body cameras would be widely distributed," King said. "(The) secretary told me that they're on order, that they have been distributed widely across the country, but not everywhere, and apparently not in Biddeford."

ICE agents involved in the recent shooting in Texas were also not wearing body cameras, according to U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia.

Maine officials call for investigation

Maine officials, including King, are calling for a "full, transparent and open investigation" of the shooting.

Texas officials also called for inquiries into the killing of Salgado Araujo in Houston. The 52-year-old home builder was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a traffic stop after he was mistaken for another man. ICE officials said Salgado Araujo was shot after he "weaponized" his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE agent. Witnesses say that description of what happened is "simply false."

Salgado Araujo's death triggered protests and a wave of scrutiny on federal agents months after the shooting deaths of Pretti and Good.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz referenced their deaths in a statement responding to the shooting in Maine. Walz called for an end to President Donald Trump's aggressive enforcement campaign that has seen multiple people fatally shot by ICE agents nationwide.

"Americans are once again watching in horror as Trump's lawless federal agents took another life - this time in Maine," Walz said. "We must seek accountability and justice and an end to this madness."

Federal officials have repeatedly accused people shot by immigration authorities of using their vehicles to ram agents, though Homeland Security's claims have faced criticism under scrutiny.

Among those accused was Good, 37, who was shot and killed inside her car on Jan. 7. The shooting was captured on video by witnesses. A USA TODAY analysis of the footage showed Good's vehicle turning away from the officer who opened fire on her at the time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ICE agent fatally shoots man during Maine traffic stop

Reporting by Christopher Cann, Shawn P. Sullivan, Natalie Neysa Alund and Michael Loria, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 7:20 PM.