A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a Maine motorist on Monday, marking at least the ninth death since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportations campaign.
The shooting came less than a week after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a Houston man after an altercation with agents while he was driving to work.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the agent opened fire after the man “weaponized” his vehicle against ICE agents.
Authorities have released few other details about the shooting. The FBI is leading the investigation. Gov. Janet Mills said the Maine State Police are working with the state attorney general’s office, chief medical examiner’s office and federal officials to determine what happened. ICE didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Maine death follows Houston shooting
Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, ignored commands while trying to evade arrest during an enforcement operation on July 7. The department said he attempted to ram his car into an agent, who opened fire in self-defense.
Araujo’s family said he was on his way to work at a construction job. He died on the way to the hospital.
The shooting drew immediate criticism from immigrant rights groups and some Democrats, who called for an independent investigation.
Video footage in several previous shootings has contradicted the accounts of federal officers. No immigration officers have been charged in those fatal encounters.
Man shot during vacation trip traffic stop
A fatal late-night traffic stop in Texas in March 2025 marked the earliest deadly shooting by federal officers during the nationwide immigration crackdown. It took almost a year for records in the fatal shooting of the 23-year-old U.S. citizen to be disclosed.
A Homeland Security Investigations team was conducting an immigration enforcement operation with local police when agents stopped Ruben Ray Martinez on his way from San Antonio to South Padre Island. Family members said he had just turned 23 and was with his best friend on his way to celebrate.
DHS officials said Martinez was told to exit the vehicle, refused and instead “intentionally ran over” an agent. Another agent fired shots through the open driver’s window, striking Martinez, who died at a hospital. The HSI agent was treated for an undisclosed knee injury.
Martinez’s mother said she was contacted by investigators with the Texas Rangers who told her there was video that contradicted the account given by federal agents. Federal and state authorities have declined to comment on potential discrepancies.
Nurse shot during Minneapolis protest
A Border Patrol officer shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, during a Jan. 24 protest against the Metro Surge immigration operation in Minneapolis.
Federal authorities immediately described Pretti, a U.S. citizen, as an armed agitator who was a threat to officers. But bystander video showed Pretti was on the ground and had been holding a cellphone during the interaction with officers.
The video showed an officer appearing to pull a gun from Pretti’s waistband and step away before the first shot was fired by another officer, followed by more shots. Pretti had a permit to possess a firearm.
State and local officials pushed back against the federal officials’ initial characterizations of Pretti, with Gov. Tim Walz calling the comments “despicable.”
Driver shot behind the wheel of an SUV
Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was repeatedly shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Videos show she was turning the wheels of her car away from officer Jonathan Ross when he opened fire. Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended Ross, claiming his life was at risk from the moving vehicle.
Good’s death caused a firestorm across the country. The U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t share information on the shooting with state authorities.
State and local officials subsequently sued to try to stop the immigration sweeps. Protesters with whistles trailed officers who, in response, deployed tear gas and other chemical irritants.
Cook from Mexico shot during a traffic stop
ICE agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop Sept. 12 in suburban Chicago. Relatives said the 38-year-old line cook from Mexico had dropped off a child at daycare that morning.
At the time, DHS officials said agents were pursuing a man with a history of reckless driving who was in the country illegally. They alleged Villegas González evaded arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle.
Homeland Security said the officer opened fire fearing for his life and was hospitalized with “serious injuries.” However, local police videos showed the agent walking around and dismissing his injuries as “nothing major.”
DHS has said the death remains under investigation.
Farmworker fell from greenhouse roof during ICE raid
Authorities were arresting dozens of farmworkers July 10 at Glass House Farms in southern California when Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck. The 57-year-old laborer from Mexico died at a hospital two days later.
Relatives said Alanis had spent a decade working at the farm in Camarillo, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Officials said he fell about 30 feet (9 meters) from the greenhouse roof.
Homeland Security said Alanis was never in custody and was not being chased by immigration authorities.
Man struck on California freeway after running from officers
A man fleeing from immigration officers outside a Home Depot store in southern California died after being hit by an SUV as he tried to cross a freeway on Aug. 14.
Police in Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, said ICE agents were conducting enforcement operations when the man was hit while running across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210.
The man, identified by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, 52, of Guatemala, died at a hospital.
Homeland Security said Montoya Valdez wasn’t being pursued by immigration authorities when he ran.
Gardener from Honduras killed on Virginia interstate
A pickup truck fatally struck Josué Castro Rivera on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia, as he tried to escape authorities during a traffic stop on Oct. 23.
Castro Rivera, 24, of Honduras, was heading to a gardening job with three passengers when ICE officers pulled over the vehicle, according to his brother, Henry Castro.
State and federal authorities said Castro Rivera ran away on foot and was hit by a pickup truck on Interstate 264.
Homeland Security said Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and that Castro Rivera had “resisted heavily and fled.”
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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Leah Willingham in Boston and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.
