Federal immigration agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero early Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, after a confrontation involving his vehicle. The incident occurred shortly after 7 a.m., when agents fired five shots at Guerrero, who was seated in his car.
No video footage has surfaced capturing the moments leading directly to the shooting, leaving numerous details unresolved, including whether multiple agents discharged their weapons. However, several videos recorded after the shooting provide additional context about Guerrero’s interaction with the agents and the events immediately following the gunfire.
According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement issued Tuesday, Guerrero, a Colombian national, was shot after attempting to flee from the federal agents in his vehicle. The department said an agent fired a weapon due to concerns for public safety. In separate communications to congressional members, DHS asserted that Guerrero had “weaponized his vehicle toward law enforcement,” a characterization that echoes language used in recent ICE accounts of other encounters but has been contested in some cases by video evidence and witness reports.
Surveillance footage obtained from a nearby location captures the sounds of yelling and five distinct gunshots, followed by commands from officers instructing others to “Move it, let’s go” and “Back, Back!” Guerrero and the agents are not visible in this video. Subsequently, security footage from a pawnshop shows Guerrero’s white Kia moving slowly into an intersection, surrounded on foot by two ICE agents. The car makes several slow loops while agents attempt unsuccessfully to open the driver’s side door. After the third loop, one agent runs ahead as another arrives in a government SUV, attempting to block the Kia, eventually bringing it to a stop.
Three agents then surround Guerrero’s vehicle, with one pointing a weapon at the driver’s window, though no shooting is visible in this footage. The door is opened, and Guerrero is removed from the car, falling to the ground. Four bullet holes are visible in the front windshield.
Additional video released by local media shows federal agents handcuffing Guerrero while he lies on the ground. It is unclear from this footage whether he was alive at that moment or had already succumbed to his injuries.
DHS did not provide further details about the shooting when asked. The department described Guerrero as an “illegal alien” and stated that ICE had been conducting surveillance at the last known address of a person with a deportation order on the morning of the incident, though it was not confirmed if Guerrero was the intended target. DHS has said it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Guerrero’s death marks the second fatal shooting by ICE agents within one week. On July 7, ICE agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston. The agency’s use of deadly force in both cases has drawn scrutiny as investigations continue.