A demonstrator carries a "JUSTICE FOR LORENZO" sign at a protest in response to two fatal shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on July 14, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
Via Getty Images
The death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the Colombian national killed on July 13 in Biddeford, Maine, reignited the conversation about the brutality and alleged excessive use of force by immigration officers in the United States. The case has also raised questions about the screening and training of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot the 26-year-old, as some of his close relatives say he had struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood.
According to reports by The Associated Press and NBC News, the officer who shot Durán Guerrero was identified as David Brouillette, an Army veteran and former law enforcement officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs before joining ICE. Relatives say Brouillette has a history of "terrifying and violent behavior," including assaulting women and threatening to kill one of them.
His former wife, Ashley Brouillette, told News Center Maine, an NBC affiliate, that her ex-husband was abusive, saying she endured "a lot of physical, emotional, and mental abuse."
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The two met in high school and got married in 2007. Ashley Brouillette said they divorced in 2009 after he became physically abusive, behavior she said began after she became pregnant with their daughter. She also alleged that he once threw boiling water at her while she was holding their child and, in another incident, pointed a gun at her and threatened to blow her brains "all over the bathtub" after an argument.
After their divorce, David married again. Family court records obtained from the Augusta District Court clerk's office show he was also accused of physically and verbally abusing his second ex-wife, Lucinda Brouillette, as well as his daughters.
Lucinda Brouillette said that he stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused their daughter, according to court records. In one incident, Brouillette allegedly tackled his teenage daughter, rubbed spaghetti into her hair and dragged her around the house while she cried.
"Dave needs counseling or something for his PTSD and depression," Lucinda allegedly wrote in a request for a temporary protective order filed on behalf of their teenage daughter, which a judge granted in 2021, according to NBC News.
Another relative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Brouillette was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and attention-deficit disorder as a child, describing him as "extremely mentally ill." The relative also said Brouillette attempted suicide twice at age 12.
According to U.S. military records, Brouillette first joined the Maine Army National Guard in 2007 as a chemical equipment repairer. He enlisted in the regular Army in 2010 as a human intelligence collector and was deployed to Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013. He left the Army as a sergeant in December 2015.
That same relative told NBC News he believes Brouillette's deployment to Afghanistan worsened his mental health.
"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," the relative told NBC News.
A woman mourns at a makeshift memorial for Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian immigrant who was fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, on July 15, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine.
Via Getty Images
In a separate interview with NPR, Ashley Brouillette said David confessed to shooting Durán Guerrero when he called her and asked her to vouch for his character.
"He asked me to basically talk good in his character, not to talk bad about him. And if I couldn't not talk bad about him, then just not to talk at all to anybody," she told NPR. "And I told him that I was not going to lie for him. He asked me not to talk about the abuse in our marriage. And I told him again I was not going to lie for him."
So far, neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed whether David Brouillette was the officer who shot and killed Durán Guerrero. He also has not responded to requests for comment from multiple news outlets.
According to Ashley Brouillette, he told her he is being kept in protective custody and believes killing Durán Guerrero was justified.
His oldest daughter, Madison, also said he told her during a phone call last week that the shooting was justified.
"I don't think he sees himself as a killer," Madison Brouillette said. "I think he thinks that he genuinely did the right thing," she added. "All he said was that he did what he had to do. He said that he had to protect himself."
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Tags: ICE, Immigration, United States, Maine, Dhs