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By Billal Rahman, Joshua Rhett Miller, Dan Gooding, and Hannah Parry
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Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had committed "murder" against one of his citizens in Maine and called on President Donald Trump to send him a message.
In a post to X, Petro said the 26-year-old's death was "murder at the hands of the U.S. government," and called for Colombia's foreign services to act quickly to take "legal and human action so that the murderers pay for their homicide."
"They killed him for believing him to be an inferior being without rights, and as a person, he had all the rights conferred on a human being simply for being born, and he was a citizen with rights in the US," Petro wrote, in Spanish. "I expect from President Donald Trump a message to Colombia about what happened."
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Petro named the man as Johan Sebastián Durán, which has been a known variation on the reported name of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, cited by The New York Times and Portland Press Herald. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not yet named the man killed.
Petro went on to say that the man was a victim of the state, "of persecution and exclusion against a civilian population group for ethnic and cultural reasons, prohibited since the times of the Nuremberg Tribunal across the entire planet," referring to the trials of major Nazi leaders after World War II.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and DHS for comment on Petro's remarks Tuesday afternoon.
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Guerrero’s father, Omar Durán, described his son as "a person of good values" who left Colombia seeking a better future for his wife and daughter. Durán said his son had a work permit and worked two jobs in Maine.
"He had a lot of vision to get ahead, many dreams to fulfill. A wonderful son and I don't know why they did that to him," Durán told Noticias Caracol.
Earlier Tuesday, it was revealed Guerrero had appeared to criticize the killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer in a January Facebook post, writing: "Sadly here you get paid for killing a person." He made the comment on a post related to the ICE agent who allegedly shot Good in Minneapolis on January 7.
Meanwhile, the officer involved in the shooting of Guerrero was a new recruit who was hired by ICE this year from the Department of Veterans Affairs Police, The Atlantic reports.
Although the officer has not been identified, the newspaper reports that he has worked in federal law enforcement since 2017.
The Atlantic, citing veteran officials, said that some agents had received little training about how to safely conduct vehicle stops, as the Trump administration fast tracks new recruits through its ICE academy.
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ICE Vehicle Stops Paused Following Shooting
ICE agents have been instructed to largely suspend vehicle stops until further notice, according to a source familiar with the matter.
An ICE spokesperson told Newsweek: "We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics."
The directive marks a significant shift in enforcement activity and comes as officials reassess the agency’s approach to roadside operations after two men were shot dead in Texas and Maine. Newsweek understands the change will not apply to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
While speaking with Fox News on Tuesday, Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, said in part, "Look, it's not a policy change, it's a temporary pause.
"This is a temporary pause while they look at the incidents, but let me say this too. I hear a lot of noise right now, this is going to affect ICE arrests and it's not going to," Homan added, based on his understanding after talking to the ICE director.
Homan said that every case is different, while noting an uptick in vehicle assaults.
New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent Tuesday that DHS was "trying to cover for the fact that what they are doing shouldn't be allowable in the first place."
Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins, who has come under pressure following the shooting, released a statement Tuesday, after speaking with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, saying, "While the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops."
But the temporary administrative pause fails to address a "deep-seated crisis of federal accountability," according to Mike Fox, legal fellow at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
"In both fatal shootings, the victims were not the intended targets of the operations, and agents used excessive force, proving that the Department of Homeland Security's robust use-of-force policy is virtually meaningless to the extent its agents are free to violate it with impunity," Fox said in a statement Tuesday.
Fox, who also said the change in protocol will "undoubtedly save lives," called on lawmakers to respond immediately.
"It is now incumbent upon Congress to step in and clearly legislate when, where, and if at all, immigration enforcement agents from both ICE and CBP should be permitted to conduct traffic stops," Fox said. "Because the Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly proven itself incapable of abiding by the letter and spirit of the law, internal guidelines—or even statutory law absent an enforcement mechanism—is entirely insufficient."
ICE-Involved Shooting: What To Know
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ICE said officers were conducting surveillance at the last known address of a person with a final order of removal when an "illegal alien" left the residence in a vehicle.
In a statement late Monday, an ICE spokesperson told Newsweek: "ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon."
"The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries," the spokesperson added.
Daniel Boucher, 71, a Biddeford resident, told Newsweek he was awakened by what sounded like firecrackers outside his apartment shortly after 7:30 a.m. Monday. When he went to investigate, he saw federal agents pulling a young man from a vehicle, he said.
Boucher also said the man appeared to tell officers he had been trying to stop before later becoming unresponsive as officers performed CPR. Although he did not witness the shooting itself, Boucher said he heard several shots and recalled hearing an officer tell a colleague that the driver had tried to run him over or ram his vehicle.
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Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who represents Biddeford, said in an initial Facebook statement that one person had been killed in a shooting involving ICE.
He said the Maine State Police and Department of Public Safety were responding to the scene. Federal authorities provided few additional details in the immediate aftermath, and DHS did not publicly release a statement on the incident until nearly 12 hours later. The FBI confirmed to Newsweek that agents were at the scene, but declined to provide further information.
Guerrero worked as a delivery driver for DoorDash, company officials confirmed in a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday. His most recent shift occurred on July 6, a week before Monday's shooting.
Madalynn Gagne, who works at an Applebee’s in Biddeford, said she last saw Guerrero while working about two weeks ago.
"He was a hardworking, nice guy, family man, very polite," Gagne told Newsweek in a message Tuesday afternoon.
Who Is Joan Sebastian Guerrero?
Guerrero was a 26-year-old Colombian man living in Maine who, according to immigrant advocacy groups and neighbors, had come to the state to live and work.
Independent Senator Angus King initially said Mullin told him the man who was shot had "been given an order to leave the country." Later, King's office said Mullin provided updated information indicating that the person killed was not the intended target of the operation.
The Maine Attorney General's Office told Newsweek that preliminary information indicates the driver was attempting to flee "in the direction of" an ICE Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) officer when he was shot. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
The Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine said Guerrero was authorized to work in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number. Neighbor Nelson Elias told CNN he was a delivery driver who lived with his partner and young daughter in Biddeford.
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According to his Facebook page, Guerrero studied at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
The same page lists his hometown as Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia, and he had been engaged since August 10, 2019. Newsweek has not independently verified the information on the profile.
A September 2023 Facebook post on Guerrero's Facebook profile showed him with a woman and a baby, who social media posts suggested were his partner and daughter. The post included the Spanish caption, "My two princesses, I love them." In the comments, a woman believed to be his partner wrote: "I love you so much my love, you are the best man and the best father. I am so proud of you."
Witness Cecelia Humiston, 22, told the Portland Press Herald she saw two women and a young child she believed was the victim's daughter near the scene after the shooting. The child appeared to be about 3 years old and was wearing Bluey pajamas, Humiston said. She said one of the women shouted at law enforcement officers: "You took her dad, you took her dad!"
Isabel Paredes, a Biddeford resident who knew Guerrero, described him to CNN as a devoted father who worked hard to build a better life for his family.
"They’re too scared to talk to anyone," Paredes told the outlet.
The Colombian Embassy in Washington said it was providing consular assistance to the man's family and had sought information from the DHS about the circumstances of his death.
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What Do Videos Show?
Video footage reviewed by Newsweek shed light on the aftermath of the shooting, though it did not show what led agents to open fire. CNN reported a doorbell camera captured the sound of five gunshots at 7:17 a.m. Surveillance and video footage obtained by the Associated Press showed a white Kia moving through a nearby intersection before being stopped by a law enforcement SUV.
Additional footage reviewed by Newsweek appears to show federal agents pulling a man from the vehicle, placing him on the ground and handcuffing him. Other video from the scene showed ICE agents near a white pickup truck outside a residence as emergency sirens sounded.
Photos appear to show at least four bullet holes in the driver's side of the Kia's windshield. By 7:21 a.m. Monday, local police had arrived, and footage from the aftermath shows officers providing medical aid to a man on the ground. None of the videos capture the moments immediately before the shooting or explain why force was used.
King told CNN the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras. The absence of footage is likely to draw scrutiny, particularly as it comes days after another fatal ICE shooting in Houston in which agents also were not wearing cameras. DHS has previously received $20 million from Congress to help expand body-camera use but has acknowledged the nationwide rollout remains incomplete.
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How Many People Have Been Fatally Shot by ICE Agents in 2026?
At least four people have been fatally shot by federal immigration agents in 2026 under the Trump administration's mass deportation policy. Other high-profile cases include Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer and Alex Pretti, who was shot by CBP agents.
Last week, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the United States for 35 years and was the father of three U.S.-citizen sons, was shot by an ICE agent in Houston after, authorities said, he had "weaponized" his vehicle.
Update 7/14/26, 6:35 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes, Anna Commander, Tony Phillips and Edward T. Cummins.
Correction: 7/14/26, 6:30 p.m.: A previous version of this article included an updated headline that was not corroborated by the story, as well as a misspelling of U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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