ICE Agent in Maine Killing Had Abuse History, Ex-Wives Say

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot a Colombian immigrant in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13 has been publicly identified as David Brouillette, a 37-year-old Army veteran whose ex-wives have described a pattern of domestic violence, mental health struggles, and racist beliefs that they say should have disqualified him from federal law enforcement.

According to NPR, Ashley Brouillette, the agent’s first ex-wife, said he called her on Wednesday, July 15, acknowledging his role in the shooting and asking her to vouch for his character. “He asked me to basically talk good in his character, not to talk bad about him,” she told NPR. “And I told him that I was not going to lie for him.”

The Victim

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26, came to the United States from Colombia in September 2023 to build a better future for his infant daughter, now 3 years old. He worked cleaning a veterinarian’s office and delivering food. According to the Bangor Daily News, his childhood friend Cristian Joya said, “His dream was to give his daughter a better future. It was the American Dream. And now it’s no longer a dream.”

Durán Guerrero leaves behind his partner, Karolina Rojas Alvarez, and their daughter.

The Shooting

The shooting occurred around 7:00 a.m. at the intersection of Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford. ICE agents were attempting to serve an administrative warrant on someone else — not Durán Guerrero. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin acknowledged that Durán Guerrero was not the intended target. Four or five shots were fired. ICE claimed the driver attempted to flee and the agent fired “fearing for public safety.”

No body camera footage exists of the encounter. Congress had approved $20 million in funding for body cameras this year, but ICE agents were not equipped with them.

A Troubled Background

The Associated Press reported that Brouillette’s relatives described a long history of violent behavior. Ashley Brouillette alleged that during their marriage, he once pointed a gun at her in the shower and threatened to “blow my brains all over the bathtub.” A voicemail obtained by NPR and the AP from November 2025 captured Brouillette telling his ex-wife that she and the women in her family “should have your f****** throats cut.”

According to the Boston Globe, a second ex-wife filed for a protective order on July 16, citing Brouillette’s involvement in the shooting. In a 2021 court filing, Brouillette was temporarily stripped of his firearms after his second ex-wife alleged he dragged their then-13-year-old daughter out of bed and asked if she thought he was “physically abusive now.”

Scott Collins, Brouillette’s high school best friend, told the Globe: “Let me tell you this. He is not a man who should be allowed around a firearm. He has always been an angry guy with a quick temper.”

Mental Health History

Relatives told the AP that Brouillette was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder as a child. He attempted suicide twice at age 12 and was hospitalized multiple times. Military recruiters initially rejected him due to his mental health diagnoses but encouraged him to go off his medications for a year and reapply.

A relative said: “Afghanistan destroyed him — trained him to be a killing monster, a machine. They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.”

Systemic Failures in ICE Hiring

Brouillette joined ICE in late 2025 during a massive hiring surge under the Trump administration. The agency eliminated age limits, offered signing bonuses, and roughly halved training time to 47 days — a number symbolically tied to Trump being the 47th president. An Associated Press investigation found many new employees had questionable qualifications.

John Sandweg, who led ICE as acting director in 2013, told the Globe that Brouillette’s background “certainly raises serious questions.” He said it would be “incredibly rare” for someone with that history to be deemed suitable for federal law enforcement. “I would hope that in my day, those are the kind of things that would have been discovered. They have cut major corners in all of that,” Sandweg said.

Broader Pattern of Violence

This was at least the 11th fatal shooting involving ICE agents since Trump’s second inauguration. Just six days earlier, in Texas, 52-year-old Lorenzo Araujo was shot and killed in his truck during an ICE traffic stop. At least 21 people have died in immigration detention centers in 2026.

Political Fallout

Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, called on Congress to “rein in ICE or abolish it.” Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting “murder,” saying Durán Guerrero was “killed because he was deemed an inferior being devoid of rights.”

ICE temporarily halted most traffic stops after the shooting, but President Trump pressured the agency to reverse course. Maine’s congressional delegation has called for a DHS Inspector General investigation.

What’s Next

The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General has been asked to conduct a full investigation. It remains unclear whether Brouillette will face criminal charges. The case has galvanized immigrant rights advocates and renewed calls for ICE accountability, as questions mount about how many other agents with similar backgrounds were hired during the agency’s rapid expansion.

Ashley Brouillette said she is speaking out now to prevent future tragedies. “I feel like even though I tried to bring awareness to his mental health conditions before and I got ignored, that I really need to push and be heard now and hopefully prevent something like this from happening again,” she told NPR.