Sen. King: DHS Secretary Told Him Maine ICE Shooting Victim Was Not the Man Named in Warrant

Since ICE agents fatally shot a Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine on Monday, the story has moved from a single tragic shooting to a case where the government's own account has changed within hours.

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin first told him the man killed was the intended target of a warrant ICE agents were serving. About three hours later, King said, Mullin called him back with updated information: the man actually wasn't the target.

A source with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News the man's name is Joan Sebastian Guerrero. Advocacy groups including the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente! identified him as a 26-year-old Colombian national. Those same groups said he was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number.

DHS said in a statement that agents were conducting "targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal" when they tried to stop a vehicle coming from that address. The department said the vehicle "attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon." DHS did not name the man it was actually looking for, and did not explain why agents opened fire on someone who, according to King, was not their target.

That account differs in a notable way from what King said Mullin told him directly. King told CNN that "the term the secretary used was 'weaponized' the vehicle," describing how the man "pulled out in the vehicle" before being shot by an ICE agent. DHS's public statement dropped that word entirely, citing only a general concern for "public safety." King told CNN the discrepancy is exactly what investigators need to sort out: whether the driver was trying to run over an agent or was simply in danger of running over other people in the street.

The agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras, King said.

The Maine attorney general's office, which is investigating alongside the FBI, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent, and that the motorist was the target of an enforcement operation related to a final order of removal. The office said the agent who fired has been placed on leave, which it described as standard policy in officer-involved shootings.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said Mullin told her the Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General is leading the investigation in cooperation with the FBI.

The Colombian Embassy said it is in contact with U.S. authorities and providing consular assistance to the man's family. The shooting was at least the ninth death from an encounter with federal immigration officials since the start of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, and the second in a week, following the killing of a Houston man on July 7.