BIDDEFORD – It’s been a week since ICE agents shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford and for many, the wound to the city remains fresh.

“He is one of our neighbors, he is a part of this community, and he was innocent,” said Andres Oviedo, 43, who lives on Center Street in Biddeford.

An ICE agent shot Guerrero at the corner of Hill and Pool Streets in Biddeford on the morning of July 13. He was in a vehicle when he was shot, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has disclosed few details about the incident.

Last week, the Associated Press identified the shooter as David Brouillette, 37, a Gardiner native with a history of violent behavior and mental illness. DHS has declined to confirm the AP’s identification, and DHS officials did not respond to a request for comment from Spectrum News. 

The Maine Attorney General’s office vowed to get answers as to what happened on July 13. This week, officials said there was no new information beyond a July 15 statement that read in part, “The Attorney General’s Office is focused on a thorough, truth-seeking investigation in cooperation with the federal agencies involved.”

Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain has provided daily updates to the public as to what if any new developments have occurred. The Biddeford City Council’s regular meeting is Tuesday night, its first since the shooting occurred. The agenda for the meeting indicates a proclamation will be read. 

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and officials are moving it to the Little Theater at Biddeford High School rather than the usual council chambers at Biddeford City Hall. In a statement, officials said the move was to accommodate a potential large crowd.

“This will be our first council meeting since Johan was killed, and it is important that our community has the time and space to grieve, speak, and be heard,” LaFountain said. 

Within hours of the shooting on July 13, protesters had gathered in Mechanics Park. A week later, the impromptu shrine bearing hand-lettered placards and signs remained, with messages of goodwill, support for Guerrero’s family, and condemnations of President Donald Trump and ICE.

Nearby, Oviedo was waving a sign at passing vehicles that read, “If some of us are not safe, none of us are! Solidarity!” Many passing cars blew their horns at him while he waved. He said he’d been there all night, and had been protesting since the shooting occurred.

“We’re planting the seed, and all we can hope is for the ripple effect to be able to touch the right people, so that the people that can do something about it or can start the process to do something about it, can be informed,” he said.

Several blocks away, the intersection of Hill and Pool Streets, in some ways, looked like an ordinary neighborhood intersection Monday morning; traffic flowed normally, joggers ran by, and just up the street children were manning a lemonade stand. 

But the memorial to Guerrero was impossible to miss. Right in front of the spot where he was killed, a hedge was decorated with flowers. On the sidewalk were candles, a few teddy bears and a plastic tub someone had left with chalk for people to write on the street with.

And people had written on the street, and the sidewalks. One message pointed out the reddish-brown stain that remained in the street was, in fact, blood. Someone also wrote in Spanish, “Hasta no hay mas,” meaning, “Until there is no more.” Another message read, “We will continue to fight for you!” Yet another message read, “Some people from Iowa care.” 

On Monday, Matt Pych, 47, stood in front of the memorial in silence. He later said he is vacationing in Biddeford from Queens, N.Y., and expressed disbelief that tragedies related to ICE are still happening, even 300 miles away from home.

“You can’t escape it,” he said. “It’s everywhere.” 
Kimber Daniels, 35, of Labanon, said she was visiting Biddeford and felt compelled to come see the memorial. She said her best friend, now in their 50s, emigrated to the United States at the age of 2. Daniels called the shooting “absolutely disgusting, devastating.”

When asked if she thought the continued attention to the incident might bring about long-term change, she stared at the memorial and said, “Not today.”

She then added, “If everybody continues to be strong and vigilant.”