Additional Coverage:
An ICE agent involved in a fatal shooting in Maine this week reportedly has a troubling history of mental health issues and violence, according to statements from his family and ex-wife.
David Brouillette is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday morning. While the Department of Homeland Security has not officially named the officer involved, Brouillette’s ex-wife spoke out in an interview with the Portland Press Herald.
Ashley Brouillette revealed that her former husband admitted to the shooting in a phone call but defended his actions. She also described a longstanding struggle with mental health problems, noting that when he told her last November that he had been hired by ICE, she initially dismissed it as a symptom of his unstable state.
“I’m used to him talking crazy,” she said. “So I said, ‘Yeah sure you are buddy.’”
It was only after the tragic incident that she realized he was telling the truth. Ashley questioned how someone with his background continued to hold jobs that involved firearms.
Video footage from the scene showed Brouillette being consoled by a fellow ICE agent while Durán Guerrero lay wounded on the street.
Court records and family accounts reveal that Brouillette is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013 and left the military in 2015 as a sergeant.
He had been receiving disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ashley said she had raised concerns about his fitness for duty with his superiors.
One family member, speaking anonymously, described the impact of his military service: “Afghanistan destroyed him-trained him to be a killing machine. They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.”
The relative also noted that Brouillette’s mental health challenges began long before his military career. Diagnosed as a child with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder, he had attempted suicide twice by age 12 and had multiple hospitalizations.
Ashley further revealed that after the shooting, Brouillette called her, asking her to lie to protect his reputation. The two were high school sweethearts who married in 2007 but divorced two years later due to his escalating physical abuse during her pregnancy. She alleged that he once threw boiling water at her while she was holding their child.
Court documents also indicate accusations of abuse from Brouillette’s second ex-wife, who reported that he stalked, harassed, and physically and verbally abused their daughter, including incidents where he reportedly tackled and dragged her during violent episodes.
The tragic case has raised serious questions about mental health support for veterans and the screening processes for law enforcement personnel entrusted with firearms and public safety.