Relatives identify ICE officer in fatal Maine shooting and allege violent past

The ICE officer whom relatives say fatally shot 25-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, had a long history of alleged violence and mental health struggles, according to accounts given to The Associated Press and CBS News.

Several close relatives identified the officer as David Brouillette, 37, an Army veteran from Maine. The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly named the officer involved in Monday’s shooting. ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis told AP that the agency would “never confirm or deny attempts to dox” law enforcement officers, and said the officer in question had nearly 10 years of federal law enforcement experience and required use-of-force training.

DHS has said Durán Guerrero’s vehicle “attempted to flee the scene” and that an officer fired because he feared for public safety. Three relatives who said they spoke with Brouillette after the shooting, including his ex-wife and daughter, told AP he said he acted in self-defense. Brouillette did not respond to AP requests for comment by text or email.

Ashley Brouillette, his ex-wife, told CBS News and AP that he acknowledged during a Facebook audio call that he had killed Durán Guerrero. Their 18-year-old daughter, Madison Brouillette, also told AP that her father called her Wednesday and said he had shot and killed the man.

Ashley Brouillette said she did not believe him when he told her in November that he had been hired by ICE because of his history. She told CBS News she could not understand how he continued getting jobs involving firearms and called him a danger to others and himself.

She said she married Brouillette in 2007 after they had been high school sweethearts, then divorced him in 2009 after he became physically violent toward her. She alleged that one incident involved him throwing boiling water while she was holding their child, an account also described by her mother, Avis Collins.

A search by the Maine Department of Public Safety found no criminal record for Brouillette in the state, according to AP. But family court files obtained from the Augusta District Court clerk’s office contain years of allegations from his second ex-wife, who AP did not name because she fears retaliation.

Those filings include requests for temporary protection orders alleging stalking, harassment, and physical and verbal abuse involving the woman and his daughters. In one 2021 request granted by a judge, the woman wrote that Brouillette needed counseling for PTSD and depression. In court papers, Brouillette said his second ex-wife had slandered him.

Madison Brouillette told AP she had seen her father’s volatility, including one time when he said he had been sitting outside with a gun to his head. An immediate relative, speaking anonymously, told AP that Brouillette had been diagnosed in childhood with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder, and had attempted suicide twice at age 12. Ashley Brouillette confirmed the childhood diagnoses to AP.

Military records cited by AP show Brouillette served in the Maine Army National Guard from 2007 to 2010, then joined the regular Army as a human intelligence collector. He deployed to Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013 and left the Army as a sergeant in December 2015.

After the Army, public records and court documents reviewed by AP show he worked in several jobs, including at the Maine Correctional Center, the state Health and Human Services Department, and, in 2019, as a police officer at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center near Augusta. A VA spokesperson referred employment questions to DHS.

AP reported that at least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since President Trump resumed office and began his immigration crackdown. Durán Guerrero’s death came days after ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.