The second fatal shooting in less than a week involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has renewed calls for investigations, protests and demands that immigration officers stop terrorizing American communities.
The latest deadly ICE action occurred around 7:30 a.m. July 13 in Biddeford, Maine, against a 26-year-old Colombian immigrant initially identified as a target for immigration enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the man, who was not the target of a warrant, was shot in his vehicle, while the Maine Attorney General’s Office later said, “The subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.”
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau also confirmed the incident: “A person was killed. ICE was involved. State Police and the Department of Public Safety are now on scene to gather details and would expect the FBI to investigate as well.”
DHS has dubbed its activities in Maine as “Operation Catch of the Day,” apparently in reference to the state’s well-known seafood industry.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was on his way to work when he was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on July 7 in Houston, Texas, his family said. (Photo from Ronaldo Salgado)
The shooting follows the July 7 killing of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, during an ICE encounter in Houston. He was shot while driving himself and co-workers to a construction site. The Department of Homeland Security admitted the victim was not the target agents were looking for when shots were fired into his van.
Araujo’s killing marked at least the 21st shooting by immigration agents since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation campaign in January 2025, The New York Times reported July 8. Up to that time, five of those shootings resulted in fatalities including those of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, plus one other U.S. citizen.
The Maine and Texas killings have outraged politicians and activists and sparked demands for transparency into ICE’s claims that the victims in both cases “weaponized” their vehicles against agents before fatal shots were fired.
“I, of course, need to know all the answers here. Were they pursuing someone with a criminal record? Was this a random traffic stop? How did this possibly happen and why was this person shot? Were the officers wearing body cameras? Will there be investigations?” said U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.
Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Ryan Fecteau speaks at a vigil after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
“But more than anything else, I want to know, why are you in Maine? Every report we hear is about somebody being picked up who was legally here and is this going to be another one of those stories? We will wait for the answers, and we will be asking a lot of questions.”
In fact, body cameras were not worn by the agents involved in the shooting, King said after being briefed by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “We’ve been told that body cameras would be widely distributed. Secretary told me that they’re on order, that they have been distributed widely across the country, but not everywhere, and apparently not in Biddeford, Maine.”
The Associated Press reported that despite DHS being allocated $20 million for body cameras, the devices also were not in use in Houston when Araujo was shot to death. Nor were they in use when agents killed Good and Pretti during immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.
Sen. King said he believes Mullins’ account but still wants an investigation into the circumstances around the fatal shooting in Biddeford.
“The question is, what did he do with his vehicle? Were officers threatened? Were the threats rising to the level that justified deadly force? That’s what this investigation is all about,” King said after speaking with DHS Secretary Mullin. “And I certainly intend to stay after it, to do everything I can to be sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible, and that our state and local officials aren’t frozen out from the involvement with this investigation.”
Biddeford Mayor Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain said he was “shaken” by the incident and declared that immigrants deserve compassion and dignity from government.
“We will get answers, but we do not have them yet. I am calling for a full, thorough and transparent investigation into this fatal incident, with the full involvement and cooperation of appropriate state law enforcement authorities. A person has died, and their loved ones and the people of our community deserve clear answers about what happened.”
Demonstrators shouting “Whose streets? Our streets” marched through Biddeford shortly after news of the shooting spread across the community and after activist groups like Maine Resists called for rallies “in response to ICE murdering a community member this morning.”
Occupy Democrats posted photos of the protest and mourned the immigrant who was “brutally shot through the windshield of his car by out-of-control federal immigration goons in a residential neighborhood in Biddeford.” That afternoon “the streets were full of people demanding answers, in an echo of the reaction of the people of Minneapolis when ICE was killing people in the streets of that city.”
A vigil and demonstration at the intersection of Wayside Drive and Canal Street in Houston on July 8, following the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE officers the previous day. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via AP)
Demonstrators also gathered in Houston July 11 to protest Araujo’s killing and to demand the release of three immigrants who witnessed the shooting, the Texas Tribune reported.
“I would like to see a clear understanding of what happened, of why they believed they had the right to do that to an individual, and for them to be held accountable,” a Houston resident said during the protest that followed a July 8 vigil held for Araujo.
According to the Tribune, DHS said Araujo’s white van was mistaken for a similar vehicle connected to the target of an immigration action. Officers with an administrative warrant “were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop.”
Democratic U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Lizzie Fletcher and Christian Menefee, all representing Texas districts, responded by sending a letter to DHS demanding written confirmation that all evidence connected to Araujo’s death has been preserved.
“Instead of answers and accountability, DHS and ICE released a statement echoing the same stories we have heard before.”
“Today, we write to express our outrage at the actions that continue to take place and demand an immediate, fully independent and transparent investigation into Araujo’s death. His family, the community and the public deserve a complete and transparent account of what happened.”
The congressional members also chastised DHS for showing the same lack of transparency it did in the shooting deaths of Good and Pretti in Minneapolis.
“Instead of answers and accountability, DHS and ICE released a statement echoing the same stories we have heard before, claiming an evasion of arrest, weaponization of a vehicle, and that the fatal shooting was a result of self-defense. The most recent lethal attacks from both agencies are just the most recent escalation in violence.”
No criminal charges have been filed against the federal agents who shot and killed Good and Pretti. However, following months of withholding information, the federal government officially turned over a trove of critical investigative evidence to Minnesota state prosecutors, which will now be used to determine if state criminal charges are warranted.
Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez are the two Customs and Border Protection officers who shot and killed Pretti Jan. 24, 2026. They were placed on administrative leave shortly after the incident but there has been no indictment or known disciplinary action against them.
.Jonathan Ross is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent identified as the shooter who killed Good on Jan. 7, 2026. He has not been arrested or charged.