Motorists 'killed' by ICE agent in Maine was wrong target, senator's spokesperson says

A motorist who was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in the US state of Maine was the wrong target, authorities have said.

According to immigration rights groups, the man was 26 and originally from Colombia.

Matthew Felling, the spokesman for Maine senator Angus King, said: "In the hours since his press conference with the Maine press corps, Senator King heard back from the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin who shared with him that the victim of today's federal law enforcement shooting was not the target of the warrant.

"Senator King continues to emphasize the need for a full and transparent investigation."

Senator King previously said Mr Mullin had told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers who were pursuing him for deportation in Biddeford.

"He was in a vehicle - pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was 'weaponized' the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent," Senator King said.

The Maine attorney general's office, which is investigating along with the FBI and other agencies, had earlier said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent.

The man was the target of an enforcement operation related to a final order of removal, the office said.

The agent who killed him has been placed on leave.

It is the second fatality at the hands of ICE in a week, after a man was shot in Houston, Texas.

It is also at least the ninth death from an encounter with federal immigration officials since the start of US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a "pop, pop, pop" sound and saw a small car "turned 90 degrees to the curb" with an SUV behind it.

The driver was wounded and the car started moving down the street until the SUV hit it again, Mr Boucher said.

"His face was bloody. His head was bloody," Mr Boucher said.

"I clearly heard the victim say, 'I tried to stop' - clearly heard him say that."

Mr Boucher said he saw an ICE officer bring a medical bag to where the man was lying before an ambulance and fire engine arrived.

At one point, Mr Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

"I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, 'He tried to run me over', or something to that effect," Mr Boucher said. "I don't remember his exact words."

The man who was killed was authorised to work in the US and had a social security number, according to advocacy groups the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente!.

Read more:
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ICE and the Maine Department of Public Safety were approached for comment by the Associated Press.

Kristen Setera, an FBI spokesperson, said the FBI "responded to assist on-scene immediately following this morning's shooting incident in Biddeford, Maine," but she declined to comment further.

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