BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) 鈥� Trump administration officials told officers to suspend most vehicle stops after within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.
The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and , renewing criticism of the agency鈥檚 enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the of Alex Pretti and in Minnesota.
The suspension allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator鈥檚 office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending vehicle stops.
Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over of Johan Sebasti谩n Dur谩n Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national.
DHS said Monday that an officer, 鈥渇earing for public safety,鈥� Dur谩n Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the and the officer fired.
That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot.
DHS, which oversees ICE, didn鈥檛 respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.
In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing 鈥渁t the hands of the U.S. government.鈥�
Petro, who has openly quarreled with U.S. President Donald Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Dur谩n Guerrero as 鈥渁n inferior being without rights.鈥�
The shooting also sparked outrage in Maine, where hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday outside an ICE detention center in Scarborough, just up the coast between Biddeford and Portland.
鈥淭hese people are killers and they must leave our state now,鈥� organizer Todd Chretien told the crowd, including some who held signs reading “Stop the murder鈥� and 鈥淓nd this terror.鈥�
Maine鈥檚 congressional delegation on Tuesday demanded a 鈥渃omprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.鈥�
Questions surround the shooting
Dur谩n Guerrero’s shooting marked at least the ninth time ICE has used deadly force since Trump began his .
Photos showed bullet holes in Dur谩n Guerrero鈥檚 car鈥檚 windshield, but the officers involved in the shooting , leaving many questions. Among them are how close the officer was to the vehicle when they fired, whether officers told Dur谩n Guerrero to stop, and why ICE believes he had put the public in danger.
鈥淲e are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,鈥� an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
Maine鈥檚 other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS鈥� Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.
The state attorney general鈥檚 office, which noted that it’s working with federal agencies to investigate, said initial statements suggest the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the officer, whose name hasn’t been released and who was placed on leave.
Video shows the shooting’s aftermath
According to neighbors and public records, Guerrero lived in an apartment about 150 feet (46 meters) from where his car came to a rest outside an apartment building across the street from a pawnshop and laundromat.
Video from a nearby business’ security camera obtained by the AP shows a white car slowly approaching an intersection before making several circles. A law enforcement SUV blocks its path and two officers open the driver鈥檚 door and drag out a limp body.
It isn’t clear from the video when the shots were fired.
Daniel Boucher said he heard a 鈥減op, pop, pop鈥� and ran to the intersection.
鈥淗is face was bloody. His head was bloody,鈥� Boucher said. 鈥淚 clearly heard the victim say, 鈥業 tried to stop.鈥欌��
Boucher said the officer who shot Dur谩n Guerrero walked close to him.
鈥淗e looked at me and said, 鈥楬e tried to run me over,鈥� or something to that effect,鈥� Boucher said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember his exact words.鈥�
Dur谩n Guerrero is survived by his wife and young daughter
Two advocacy groups 鈥� the Maine Immigrants鈥� Rights Coalition and Presente! 鈥� said Dur谩n Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S.
Neighbors say Dur谩n Guerrero was a friendly and familiar face even though they rarely chatted because he didn鈥檛 appear to speak English.
Sadie Dilboy and Cory Poulin, who owns the laundromat near the intersection, said they saw Dur谩n Guerrero all the time.
鈥淓veryone knows him,鈥� said Dilboy, who remembered that he often came to their store with his daughter and gave her quarters to buy candy.
Claudia Morton, who often waved to Dur谩n Guerrero, was distraught. 鈥淭he whole world should be crying,鈥� she said.
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Brook reported from New Orleans and Sisak from New York. Associated Press reporters Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
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