An ICE officer believed to have fatally shot a 25-year-old Venezuelan immigrant in Biddeford, Maine, had previously told a court that a serious head injury left him with lasting cognitive problems, including impaired memory and reduced mental functioning, according to court documents reviewed by CNN.
Officer's Lawsuit Revealed Cognitive Deficits
David Brouillette, 37, filed a lawsuit in late 2023 against the Maine Community College System after sustaining the injury during a firefighting training exercise in December 2021. A steel I-beam fell on him while he was unloading a trailer at Southern Maine Community College, causing a deep laceration to his head and a concussion. In his legal filings, Brouillette said the lingering effects included cognitive deficits, headaches, vertigo, and light sensitivity, and that the injuries had left him "significantly impaired in his activities and in his daily living." The case later settled.
Ex-Wives Confirm He Admited Fatal Shot
Just over two years after filing that lawsuit, Brouillette was employed as a federal immigration officer. CNN has not independently confirmed whether Brouillette fired the shot that killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, whose death on Monday marked the fourth killing by federal immigration authorities this year and the second fatal shooting of an immigrant behind the wheel of a car in under a week. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer involved used deadly force out of concern for public safety. Federal officials have not publicly named the shooter.
However, two of Brouillette's ex-wives, Ashley Brouillette and Lucinda Brouillette, both told CNN that he reached out to them in the days following the incident and said he was the one who opened fire. One of his daughters corroborated that account. Both the ex-wives and his daughter said he told them he believed the shooting was justified. Federal sources separately confirmed to CNN that Brouillette is an active ICE officer.
History of Allegations Against Brouillette
Before joining ICE, Brouillette served in the Maine National Guard and the regular US Army between 2007 and 2015, including a deployment to Afghanistan. He subsequently worked as a state correctional officer, a police officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and briefly in real estate before eventually being hired by immigration enforcement.
His personal history has also drawn scrutiny. Court records show that both ex-wives filed legal complaints against him at different points, alleging verbal and physical abuse. A child-protective caseworker wrote in 2009 that Ashley Brouillette had left the marriage after admitting he was abusive. In 2019, Lucinda Brouillette sought a protection order, describing incidents in which she said he made physical threats and became aggressive. A judge temporarily ordered him to surrender any firearms that year. Neither the 2019 nor a subsequent 2021 case concluded with a formal finding of abuse. Brouillette denied the allegations in court filings, and a search of Maine's criminal records database found no charges or convictions against him.
"Honestly, I'm in a state of shock," Ashley Brouillette told CNN. "I feel really sad, and I feel sad for that man's family that died." Brouillette did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
