One killed in Maine shooting involving ICE
Maine officials said ICE was involved in a fatal shooting in Biddeford, prompting calls for answers from state and federal lawmakers.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
A person was killed Monday in Biddeford, Maine, in a shooting involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau said. The death drew immediate scrutiny because it came less than a week after an ICE agent fatally shot a Mexican national during an immigration operation in Houston.
Few details about the Biddeford shooting had been released by Monday, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Biddeford is a community of about 21,000 people roughly 15 miles south of Portland.
Fecteau, a Democrat who represents Biddeford in the Maine House, told residents on Facebook that a shooting had taken place that morning, that one person had died and that ICE was involved. He said Maine State Police and the state Department of Public Safety were at the scene gathering information, and that he expected the FBI to investigate as well.
ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Reuters reported that Biddeford police referred questions to ICE, and that the city’s mayor did not immediately respond.
Lawmakers seek details
US Representative Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, said in a social media video that she learned of the reports while traveling to Washington. Pingree said she was disturbed and angry, and called for answers about what led to the shooting.
Pingree said investigators needed to determine whether the person killed had a criminal record, whether the encounter began with an ordinary traffic stop, whether officers had body cameras and how the shooting happened. She also questioned why ICE was operating in Maine and said she was concerned the case could involve someone who was legally in the United States.
Pingree expressed sympathy for the person killed, the person’s family and the Biddeford community.
Second fatal ICE shooting in a week
The Maine shooting followed the July 7 death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. That shooting led to protests in Houston.
ICE said in the Houston case that an agent fired in self-defense after Salgado rammed a law enforcement vehicle and attempted to run over an officer. Al Jazeera reported that the agency had not released evidence supporting that account and that three eyewitnesses disputed ICE’s description of what happened.
The Biddeford death was reported amid President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement campaign, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Officials had not released the name of the person killed in Maine or a detailed account of the encounter by Monday.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.