ICE Maine shooting victim is Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero from Colombia

It was the second recent deadly shooting by US immigration agents after another man was killed in Texas last week, sparking public outcry and prompting action from Trump administration officials. The Department of Homeland Security has agreed to “cease all non-urgent vehicle stops,” Senator Susan Collins of Maine said in a social media post Tuesday.

Conflicting reports led to shifting narratives about the circumstances of the shooting, including why officers encountered Guerrero in the first place. While federal officials said ICE agents were trying to serve a deportation order, Senator Angus King’s office said it wasn’t targeting Guerrero; they were actually looking for someone else.

Loved ones remembered him Tuesday as a hardworking man whose life revolved around his family.

In a Facebook post Saturday afternoon, he shared two photos of his daughter, as a baby and a toddler. “3 years later,” he wrote in Spanish. “I love you my beautiful princess.” By Tuesday morning, dozens of people had commented on the post offering condolences and prayers.

Guerrero, 26, was legally authorized to work in the United States, according to his family.

He immigrated several years ago, later joined by his wife, said a close friend from Colombia, Luis Andres Bravo Perdomo.

“He told me he was going over there for a better future,” Perdomo told the Globe in a phone interview, speaking in Spanish. He said his friend’s dream was to give his daughter a better education than he thought she could access in Colombia.

And when they talked recently, Perdomo was delighted because it seemed like things were going well. He said the tragic outcome seems unbelievable.

“I feel a lot of sadness, and a lot of pain because of what has happened,” he said.

The two formed a strong bond while serving in the Colombian military during 2019 and 2020. “We would endure days of cold and hunger,” Perdomo said. “But we would lean on each other for advice.”

Guerrero loved Colombian cumbia, a type of music with Indigenous and Afro-descendant roots. He was also skilled at playing the snare drum, Perdomo said.

About a month ago, when Perdomo was about to have his first child, Guerrero congratulated him heartily: “He told me it would be the most beautiful thing to happen, to have a family,” Perdomo said.

In an audio message distributed to Colombian news stations, Guerrero’s father, Omar Durán, said his son had always been a judicious, loving and disciplined man. “He was a person who loved his family so much,” Durán said.

Guerrero had two jobs and worked long days. He spent mornings at a veterinary clinic, cleaning the facility, and then switched to food delivery after his shift was over, his father said.

“He had a lot of visions to get ahead in life, a lot of dreams to achieve,” Durán said in Spanish. “He is a marvelous son, and I don’t know why they did this to him. … He was a person who was brought up with values.”

He said Guerrero had legal work authorization and was routinely checking in with US immigration authorities.

“It is a deep pain that they have caused us,” Durán said, calling his son’s death unjust. He said he’s praying for justice.

In the neighborhood where he lived in Biddeford, Guerrero was often seen driving a small white sedan, which he used for DoorDash deliveries. He was behind the wheel Monday morning when the ICE agent opened fire, shooting into his car.

Federal officials said ICE agents tried to conduct a traffic stop after “an illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle.” An officer discharged his weapon when the driver didn’t stop, according to a department spokesperson. The agents were not wearing body cameras, officials have said.

Photos and posts from Guerrero’s Facebook page show him smiling widely, often posing with Maine’s scenic landscapes in the background.

In April, he posted in a Facebook group for Biddeford and Saco residents saying he was looking for an inexpensive car.

Justin Trudeau ended up connecting with Guerrero and helping him buy a gray Honda Accord. In a phone interview Tuesday, Trudeau said he was upset by Guerrero’s death.

“He was really nice, always talking about his wife and his kid. He was actually buying the car for his wife,” Trudeau said. “I was very shocked to find out it was him.”

A woman neighbors identified as Guerrero’s wife reposted an article about his killing on Monday, writing in Spanish on her Facebook page: “Dios mío por qué amor mío.”

“My god why my love.”

She had also posted in a Facebook group for Latinos in Maine shortly after the shooting on Monday, asking for community members to help her find justice for her husband.

His family faces an uncertain future without him, organizers wrote on a GoFundMe page.

“With broken hearts, we are raising funds to help his family cover legal expenses, funeral costs, and the repatriation of his body to Colombia, where his parents are waiting to lay him to rest,” the post said.

Guerrero was originally from Bucaramanga, Santander, a north-central Colombian city nestled in the Andes mountains.

A spokesperson for the Colombian embassy confirmed he was a Colombian national.

In a social media post Tuesday afternoon, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called Guerrero a “victim of the state” and accused the US government of murder.

“They killed him because they believed he was an inferior being without rights,” he wrote in Spanish, saying he expects a message from President Trump about what happened.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, video surveillance showed Guerrero’s white sedan traveling aimlessly through an intersection as if the driver had lost control. An unmarked SUV then rammed the car, bringing it to a stop, and federal agents pulled an apparently lifeless Guerrero from the driver’s side door.

Neighbors described hearing a woman crying and screaming in Spanish: “Mi amor, mi amor.” They held her back when she tried to run into the street.

The deadly violence shattered a quiet summer morning in Biddeford, a city of roughly 22,000 people about 20 miles south of Portland.

The shooting occurred amid a recent spike in ICE activity around Biddeford, residents said. And it followed the agency’s controversial January crackdown in Maine, called Operation Catch of the Day, in which hundreds of immigrants were detained.

After protesters took to the streets of Biddeford on Monday, another demonstration took place Tuesday in nearby Scarborough, where hundreds gathered in front of the state’s only ICE facility. They were chanting, singing and demanding accountability.

“These ICE agents are turning into domestic enemies,” said Charles Curreri, 26, a Navy veteran who attended the protest with his wife and their toddler son.

Meanwhile back in Biddeford, a makeshift memorial honoring Guerrero had grown significantly. Roses, sunflowers, lilies and daisies adorned the sidewalk near where he was killed, along with candles, cardboard signs and written messages. A handmade card featured the painted handprint of a small child.

Someone had left a stuffed animal of the cartoon dog Bluey. An eyewitness told the Portland Press Herald that Guerrero’s daughter was wearing Bluey pajamas when she came outside after the shooting.

There were a few American flags, too.

And on a utility pole above the memorial, someone had attached a printed photo of a smiling Guerrero with a poem in Spanish that read: “Today the sky received a young man full of dreams, light, and goodness. Your departure hurts deeply, but your memory will live forever in our hearts.”

Shannon Larson of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Bryan Hecht contributed to this report.

---

Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at giulia.mcdnr@globe.com. Follow her @giuliamcdnr. Sabrina Shankman can be reached at sabrina.shankman@globe.com. Lea Skene can be reached at lea.skene@globe.com. Follow her on X @lea_skene.