Third Death in a Week Tied to ICE Encounters as Trump Orders Traffic Stops Restarted

Since the July 7 shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, the death toll tied to ICE encounters has climbed to at least three in a single week, with a fourth incident now on the books in St. Augustine, Florida.

On Tuesday, July 14, a 28-year-old Mexican national died after fleeing an encounter with Homeland Security Investigations and ICE agents in a Wawa parking lot on State Road 16, according to Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Dylan Bryan. Four men ran from the agents; one sprinted into oncoming traffic and was struck by a semi-truck. The driver stopped and tried to help him. He died at the scene, Bryan said in a statement reported by both The Guardian and PBS.

A witness who pulled into the gas station with her kids described the moment to News 4 Jax, telling the station the sound of the impact keeps replaying in her head and that she prayed for the man. DHS confirmed the man's nationality but has not released his identity. Whether he was the target of the operation or one of the three others in the vehicle remains unknown, and DHS has not said what happened to those three men, according to PBS, which cited an unanswered inquiry from the Associated Press.

Mark Baughman, a crime and safety expert who previously worked with ICE, told First Coast News the operation looked like a standard enforcement removal action but said there's no way to know without more information. "These could have been four workers waiting to meet somebody to go to a job site, or they could have been four individuals involved in some illegal activity," Baughman said, adding that there "needs to be reasons why you're trying to apprehend these people, what violations they committed." DHS hasn't answered those questions publicly.

Two Fatal Shootings Preceded the Florida Death

The Florida incident follows two fatal ICE shootings within the same week. On July 7 in Houston, ICE officers shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, during what the agency described as an attempt to stop a vehicle carrying a target of an immigration operation. ICE said Araujo drove over a median to flee, later rammed an ICE vehicle, and "weaponized his vehicle" trying to run over an officer, prompting the officer to fire in self-defense. DHS confirmed none of the four occupants was the actual target. The three passengers, taken into custody, told The Washington Post they were on their way to a construction job.

An FBI search warrant, reported by The Daily Wire, said investigators found three bags of a "white crystal-like substance" in Araujo's van "consistent with methamphetamine." That's a fact from a federal search warrant, not a conviction, and it doesn't resolve what happened in the seconds before the shooting.

Then on Monday, July 13, an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine, shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national, during a surveillance operation targeting a different address. ICE said Durán Guerrero fled and the officer fired "fearing for public safety." Local advocacy groups told The Guardian he had legal work authorization, a claim that conflicts with the federal government's account and has not been independently confirmed.

DHS Paused Stops, Then Trump Reversed Course

Following the two shootings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division to temporarily halt most vehicle stops nationwide, according to a report first published by The Daily Wire and confirmed by radio outlet The Legend. The pause was described as a window for additional training on vehicle-stop tactics, with exceptions for criminal warrants and joint operations with local agencies. A DHS spokesperson said only that the agency is "always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the officials who pushed for the halt, according to Breitbart. But President Trump reversed the pause within roughly a day. In a Truth Social post, he called traffic stops "one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools" and said abandoning them would mean "playing right into the criminal's hands." He blamed the Biden administration for letting "25,000,000 people" into the country "unchecked and unvetted" and told ICE to "be judicious, fair and smart" while continuing operations.

Border czar Tom Homan told the Daily Signal the pause would not slow deportations, saying he was "sick and tired" of reports suggesting the administration had lost its resolve. The same day, ICE touted five arrests of illegal aliens with prior convictions for crimes including murder and child sex offenses, citing a Harvard/Harris poll showing 80% of voters support deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes.

The Unresolved Count

PBS, citing Associated Press reporting, said the Florida death was at least the 10th fatality tied to ICE encounters since Trump's mass deportation campaign began last year, including a 2025 case in Southern California and an October case in Norfolk, Virginia, where men fleeing agents were struck by vehicles rather than shot.

Mexico's government said Tuesday it has asked U.S. state attorneys general to review the deaths of migrants in ICE custody or during raids for possible criminal prosecution, according to PBS. No state attorney general has announced an investigation into the Florida, Texas, or Maine deaths as of this writing, and no charges have been filed against any officer involved. Whether any of the three reviews change that remains an open question.