Man fatally shot by ICE officer in Maine was not the target of arrest warrant, senator’s spokesman says

The man killed in a shooting involving ICE officers in Biddeford, Maine, was not the intended target of an arrest warrant, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Sen. Angus King on Monday, according to the senator’s office.

The victim of the fatal shooting was a 26-year-old Colombian man who was authorized to work in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number, according to two organizations, Presente! and Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition.

King, a Maine Independent, earlier in the day said that Mullin told him ICE had targeted the man because he had a final deportation order.

“In the hours since his press conference with the Maine press corps, Sen. King heard back from the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin who shared with him that the victim of today’s federal law enforcement shooting was not the target of the warrant,” according to a statement from his spokesperson Matthew Felling. “Sen. King continues to emphasize the need for a full and transparent investigation.”

Ruben Torres, the advocacy and policy manager at Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition, told NBC News they are waiting to notify the victim’s family before releasing any additional details publicly.

Daniel Boucher, 71, who lives on a corner of a street where the shooting happened, told NBC News he had a direct view. He said that after hearing shots at about 7:30 a.m., he saw a large white vehicle ram a smaller one before they collided again.

Boucher said he saw an officer open the door of one of the vehicles and pull out a man whose head was bleeding profusely. He said he heard the man say, “I tried to stop.”

“Nobody should have to see what I saw,” Boucher said.

Maine’s attorney general’s office said that according to initial statements, an officer with Enforcement Removal Operations, part of ICE, was carrying out a removal order “when the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.” The attorney general’s office said it is investigating.

King said in a news conference earlier Monday that Mullin said body cameras have been widely distributed, but they are not everywhere, “and apparently not in Biddeford, Maine.” King added that he was told the cameras were coming, possibly in 45 days, “but that doesn’t help us in this case.”

Gov. Janet Mills wrote in a statement that she had been briefed on the fatal incident “involving Federal law enforcement.” She added that state police were cooperating with local and federal officials.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not respond to a request for comment. The Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C., said it is working to help identify the victim and confirm nationality.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Mullin told her “that the Boston office of the DHS Inspector General has taken over the investigation of the Biddeford shooting in cooperation with the FBI.”

Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain said in a statement that he was “shaken” when he was told about the shooting death. He also called for a thorough and transparent investigation.

“A person has died and their loved ones and the people of our community deserve clear answers about what happened,” LaFountain stated.

Dozens of anti-ICE protesters gathered in a park in Biddeford, carrying signs that read “ICE just killed my neighbor” and “I prefer crushed ICE.”

Fighting back tears, protester Katie Barrow, told NBC Boston she was heartbroken that someone died because of immigration enforcement. “It’s just disgusting,” she said. “A badge and a gun are not a license to kill.”

ICE enforcement in the state previously included an operation launched in January, dubbed by DHS “Operation Catch of the Day.” Maine’s governor criticized the operation and the administration for its lack of transparency on arrests, warrants and other information.

The Maine shooting comes less than a week after ICE officers in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was driving a van they were chasing. DHS has said the man had “weaponized” the van by trying to run over ICE officers but some Texas officials have questioned that narrative.

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New surveillance video raises questions in deadly Houston ICE shooting

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ICE agents also were not wearing body cameras in the Houston shooting and Salgado Araujo, a native of Mexico who lived in the U.S. over 35 years, was not the ICE’s intended target, officials said.

DHS had also said U.S. citizen Renee Good had tried to run over an ICE officer in defending their fatal confrontation her in Minneapolis in January, an account local officials disputed. Less than three weeks later, another officer fatally shot Alex Pretti, also a U.S. citizen.

ICE arrests have sharply increased since late last month.

NBC News has learned that the agency arrested more than 1,300 people on Saturday and more than 1,100 people on Sunday, according to a source familiar with the data and operations. This follows a new call from DHS leadership and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to arrest 2,000 people per day. Although those numbers do not approach 2,000, they are significantly higher than previous weekend numbers, which averaged 600 a day just last month.