A witness reported to the Biddeford Gazette that, at approximately 07:20 local time, he observed an unmarked white SUV flashing lights and at least two officers wearing green ICE vests.
Lucas Scott, a Biddeford resident, recounted that the agents shouted loudly as they surrounded a white sedan, after which he heard at least four gunshots.
Another witness told the Associated Press that the deceased lived nearby with his wife and daughter.
“I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Mary Hayes said.
Maine Senator Angus King said that DHS histSecretary Markwayne Mullin had informed him that the man was shot after attempting to drive his vehicle toward the officers.
“He was in a vehicle — pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent,” King said.
King added that the officers involved did not wear body cameras and that officials would investigate whether the use of deadly force was warranted.
“That’s what this investigation is all about and I certainly intend to stay after it to do everything I can to make sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible,” King said according to the AP.
The incident on Monday has raised renewed scrutiny of DHS, which oversees ICE, and its leadership.
Mullin took over as DHS Secretary in March, succeeding Kristi Noem after she was dismissed by the President.
Noem’s departure followed similar cases in which interactions with immigration officers resulted in the deaths of American citizens, including Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
The deaths of Pretti and Good followed the Trump administration’s announcement of immigration enforcement surges in Minnesota and other states.
Federal officials launched a similar operation in Maine in January, dubbed Operation Catch of the Day.
Multiple civil‑rights organizations filed a lawsuit against the administration for the aggressive tactics used by immigration officers during enforcement surges.