Man Fatally Shot by ICE Was Not Target of Arrest: "A Diligent Young Father"

As controversy grows over excessive enforcement following a series of fatal incidents involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, it has been claimed that the man in his 20s recently shot and killed in Maine was not the intended target of the operation.

Furthermore, it has been reported that the victim was legally authorized to work in the United States.

According to foreign media outlets including the Associated Press (AP) and The New York Times (NYT) on July 15 (local time), the man who was shot and killed by an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agent in a residential area of Biddeford, Maine, on July 13 has been identified as 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, a Colombian national.

Senator Angus King (Independent), who represents Maine, cited a conversation with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and stated, "The arrest warrant the ICE agents were attempting to execute at the time of the incident was not for Guerrero."

According to Senator King, the ICE agents were conducting surveillance on the residence of another undocumented immigrant who had received a final deportation order.

It was determined that when Guerrero drove his vehicle out of the residence, the agents attempted to stop him and opened fire when he appeared to be fleeing.

This has led to criticism that the authorities conducted an aggressive enforcement operation after misidentifying Duran Guerrero as the individual they were pursuing.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known residence of an undocumented immigrant with a final deportation order, but did not disclose the identity of the person being sought.

Guerrero was not an undocumented immigrant.

According to local immigrant advocacy groups and his bereaved family, the deceased held a valid work permit that allowed him to work legally in the United States.

His father, who resides in Colombia, told local media in an interview that his son was a diligent head of the household who worked as a food delivery driver during the day and a cleaner at a veterinary clinic at night to support his wife and three-year-old daughter.

There is no video evidence to determine whether the use of force was excessive, as the agents on the scene were not wearing body cameras at the time of the incident.

The Department of Homeland Security explained that the agent fired in self-defense, citing concerns about a "threat to public safety."

However, questions remain regarding how close the agent was to the vehicle, why they ordered him to stop, and on what grounds they determined he was a threat to public safety.

Given that multiple bullet holes were found on the windshield of Guerrero's vehicle, it is presumed that the agent fired from the front of the moving car.

In this regard, the AP pointed out that experts have long warned that "shooting at a moving vehicle is inherently dangerous" and should be avoided at all costs.

Considering the gravity of the incident, federal lawmakers from Maine sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging a "comprehensive, transparent, and swift emergency investigation" into the case.

The agent who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave.

Gustavo Petro, the President of Colombia, the home country of Guerrero, criticized the incident on X (formerly Twitter), calling it a "targeted killing by the U.S. government."

President Petro demanded a clear explanation from the U.S. government, stating that the ICE agents at the scene treated Guerrero as an "inferior being without rights."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.