Wrong Man Killed — DHS Admits Shocking Mistake

ICE officer badge placed on an American flag — ICE SHOCKER

The most chilling detail from Biddeford’s ICE shooting is this: the man who died was not the person agents came to arrest.

Story Snapshot

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Senator Angus King the victim was not the target of the warrant
A 26-year-old Colombian man was shot and killed during a deportation operation in Biddeford, Maine
Federal officials say he tried to flee and “weaponize” his vehicle; there is no body camera footage
The case fits a broader pattern of immigration shootings and mistaken identity in recent years

A shooting where the wrong man died

On a quiet Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, federal immigration agents moved in to serve a deportation order at a small residential street. The Department of Homeland Security said officers were watching the last known address of a person with a final removal order when a man got into a white car and drove away.

Agents tried to stop the vehicle. Moments later, one Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired his gun. The driver, a 26-year-old man from Colombia, died at the scene.

State officials later said the man tried to flee “in the direction of the officer” before the shot. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer fired “fearing for public safety” after the man tried to escape in the vehicle.

At first, public reports described the dead man as the target of the deportation warrant. That story did not last long. By that evening, the head of Homeland Security himself had changed the core fact that framed the case.

The moment the narrative flipped

Senator Angus King met with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in Portland after the shooting. King first repeated Mullin’s claim that the man had “weaponized” his vehicle, using it as a weapon against the pursuing officer.

That detail instantly raised the stakes: if true, the government would argue the shooting was self-defense. Hours later, King’s office delivered a second, more explosive update. A spokesman said Mullin had called back and told King that the victim “was not the target of the warrant” after all.

Media outlets across the country quickly picked up this new detail. Headlines shifted to a simple, gut-level phrase: the man killed was not the intended target of the operation.

Maine Public, Fox affiliate reports, and national networks all cited King’s office as the source of that fact. State leaders, including Representative Chellie Pingree, echoed the same point and demanded answers about how an enforcement action for one person ended with another man dead.

The person killed by ICE officers in a Maine shooting Monday was not the target of the warrant the officers were executing, Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Mullin told him. pic.twitter.com/wVwltUUul2

— Boston 25 News (@boston25) July 13, 2026

What we know, and what we still do not

Two key facts are now on the record. First, one Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian man during a deportation operation in Biddeford. Second, Homeland Security Secretary Mullin told Senator King that this man was not the person named on the warrant.

What we do not have is the supporting paperwork. No warrant document has been released so the public can see the name of the intended target. No incident report yet shows how agents decided to stop this particular car.

There is also a major gap in hard evidence. The officer was not wearing a body camera, and there is no known video of the exact moment the shot was fired. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses shows the white car and the frantic aftermath, but not the split-second decision to shoot.

That leaves the public with only official claims about the car being “weaponized,” and the community’s claims about a young father shot in front of family members. For Americans who value both strong borders and limited government power, that missing evidence should bother them.

A pattern that should worry anyone who backs law and order

This is not the first immigration case where officials later admitted they killed the wrong person. In Houston, Texas, less than a week before Biddeford, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop, then later confirmed he was not the person they were targeting.

National advocates now point to Biddeford as “the second fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement-involved confrontation in less than a week” where mistaken identity played a role. That is how patterns, not isolated incidents, begin.

A vigil was held to remember the life of a young father who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford. The shooting also sparked protests.

DETAILS: https://t.co/20cou9NYrR pic.twitter.com/VHwobhbUM2

— CBS 13 News (@WGME) July 14, 2026

Independent investigations support the concern. A Reuters analysis of six violent encounters under the Trump administration found that immigration officials often gave first statements that were later contradicted by evidence, including video and affidavits. In Minnesota, an affidavit showed agents chased and shot a Venezuelan immigrant who was not the man they set out to stop.

A Senate report titled “Unchecked Authority” found federal immigration agents have fabricated claims of assault in past cases, which allowed them to justify force they used against citizens. This is why many insist on verified evidence before accepting government claims about lethal force.

What a common-sense response looks like

Many politicians have rushed to condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a whole. That reaction fits the national mood but misses the deeper problem. The real issue is unchecked federal power paired with weak accountability.

A government that can kill the wrong man on a city street, then ask the public to take its word on what happened, crosses the line that limited government is supposed to hold. Many people have long warned that any agency with guns and vague rules can drift toward abuse.

Common sense suggests a simple standard. If an agent kills someone who was not even the intended target, the government must release the warrant, the incident reports, and any surveillance footage that exists, unless doing so would clearly endanger lives. Congress should demand sworn testimony from the officer who fired the shot and from the supervisors who planned the operation.

Supporters of strong borders do not need to accept sloppy or secretive use of deadly force. In fact, they should be the loudest voices insisting that power be used carefully, and mistakes be exposed, not buried.