David Michael Brouillette, 37, right, seen in a screenshot from contributed video.
A federal immigration agent identified as the officer who shot a man in Biddeford last week is reportedly in protective government custody, according to new court records.
David Brouillette, 37, was identified less than two days after the shooting by his first ex-wife as the person who killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero on July 13. She told the Portland Press Herald that Brouillette had called her, admitting he was the shooter and asking her to lie for him if reporters called.
DHS has refused to release the name of the agent who shot Guerrero.
In a request for a protection from abuse order filed this week in Kennebec County, the biological father of Brouillette’s minor stepdaughter said that Brouillette told him on July 15 that the couple was leaving their home to enter government protective custody.
In response to questions about whether Brouillette had been placed in protective custody, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Friday that the agency “will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
“Publicizing their identities puts their lives and the lives of their families at serious risk,” the agency wrote.
The Portland Press Herald is not identifying the father, who could not be immediately reached on Friday, because of the involvement of his minor child. In his request, the father asked a judge to give him temporary full custody of their daughter out of fear for her safety, “both because of the threats now directed at (Brouillette) and anyone near him, and because of what I have since learned about his history of violence.”
He added that the girl’s mother had already allowed him to take their daughter last week and that she is currently staying with him.
A district court judge on Thursday denied the request for an immediate protection order, citing rules of evidence that prevent hearsay. Much of the father’s request relied on news reports, quoting interviews and court records describing Brouillette’s reported history of violence against two ex-wives and one of Brouillette’s daughters.
A phone number for Brouillette was not in service when a reporter tried to call on Friday. He has not responded to several previous requests for comment.
Since the shooting, two of Brouillette’s ex-wives have publicly described a history of domestic abuse. His first wife, Ashley Brouillette, said he threw boiling water at her while she was holding their young daughter. Ashley Brouillette also shared a voicemail recording with the Press Herald that she said was from Brouillette, and in which he said he thought her throat should be cut.
David Brouillette’s second ex-wife, Lucinda, has also filed at least four requests for protection from abuse and harassment orders to be issued against Brouillette, after he reportedly kicked down her door and shared intimate videos of her with others. Lucinda Brouillette also told a judge in one previous request that Brouillette’s daughter told her that he had dragged her from her bed and smeared spaghetti in her hair.
Brouillette has filed four of his own requests for protection orders against Lucinda Brouillette, and he has raised similar allegations of harassment against both women in court records.
In his request this week, the father said he was worried because Brouillette “keeps a number of firearms in the home where my daughter stays” and he said that Brouillette recently admitted to him that he “discharged his firearm and killed a person.”
The father said in his request that his daughter has described Brouillette, who she has lived with half of the time for about five years, as “weird.”
“I am genuinely afraid for my daughter’s physical safety if she is in the Defendant’s presence or household,” he wrote.
A memorial for Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero at the intersection of Hill and Pool streets in Biddeford on July 14. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
DHS has previously declined to confirm Brouillette’s employment. The Press Herald has obtained public records that show Brouillette was working as an ICE agent in May and June, roughly a month before he shot Guerrero in Biddeford.
Both the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Maine Attorney General are investigating the shooting. Both have repeatedly declined to share their progress with reporters. Earlier this week, an attorney for Guerrero’s family characterized the state’s review as a criminal investigation and said that his clients are hoping Brouillette will face criminal charges.
This story will be updated.
Staff writer Jake Freudberg contributed to this report.
