One witness told the Biddeford Gazette:, external At about 7:20 local time, he saw lights flashing from an unmarked white SUV and “at least two officers wearing green ICE vests.”
Biddeford resident Lucas Scott said agents surrounded a white sedan and were yelling at him. He then heard at least four gunshots.
Another witness told the Associated Press:, external The news agency reported that the deceased man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.
“I saw a wife kneel down looking at her husband’s body on the ground,” Mary Hayes said.
“I saw a little girl carrying a little pink backpack and crying because she would never see her father again.”
Senator King said DHS Director Mullin told him the man was shot as he drove toward police.
“He was in a vehicle, he was pulled from the vehicle, the term used by the secretary was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle, and then he was shot and killed by ICE agents,” King said.
He added that the officers involved were not wearing body cameras and that an investigation will be conducted to determine whether deadly force was necessary.
“This is what this investigation is all about,” King told The Associated Press. “I plan to continue to do everything I can to ensure that the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible.”
The incident reopened investigations into DHS and ICE.
On July 7, an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old builder, as he was driving to a construction site in Houston.
Federal officials later acknowledged that the Mexican man was not the intended target of the enforcement operation but said he attempted to run over ICE agents.
Mullin took over DHS leadership from Kristi Noem, who was fired by President Donald Trump in March.
During Noem’s tenure, two protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both American citizens, were fatally shot by immigration agents.
Preeti and Good’s deaths come after the Trump administration announced a surge in immigration raids in Minnesota and other states.
Federal officials launched a similar operation called Operation Catch of the Day in Maine in January.
Civil rights groups have filed lawsuits challenging what they claim are aggressive tactics by federal agents during the surge in enforcement.
