The FBI has arrested a woman in connection with the fatal shooting of a Vermont Border Patrol agent near the U.S.-Canada border.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, was charged over the death of David Maland on Monday, the bureau said.
Maland, 44, was killed Monday afternoon following a traffic stop, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a previous statement. Investigators say he had stopped Youngblut and Felix Baukholt, a German citizen, on Interstate 91 in Coventry because Baukholt appeared to have an expired visa.
Youngblut is accused of firing at Maland and other officers, according to an FBI affidavit. The exact charges against her are not yet clear.
Baukholt attempted to draw a gun and was also killed in the firefight with Maland.
Investigators had been performing “periodic surveillance” of the pair since January 14 after an employee at a hotel where they were staying reported concerns about seeing Youngblut carrying a gun and both of them wearing all-black tactical gear.
Investigators attempted to question them but they declined to have an extended conversation and said they were in the area looking to buy property. No further details have been released.
Maland, a U.S. Air Force veteran, had worked for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for more than nine years, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
His family told The Associated Press his career spanned nine years in the military and 15 years in the federal government, including working security duty at the Pentagon during the 9/11 terror attacks.
“He was a devoted agent who served with honor and bravery,” a family statement provided to the outlet said. “He had a tremendous respect and pride for the work he did; he truly embodied service over self.”
Maland also was a K-9 handler who served in Texas, near the border with Mexico, before heading to the northern border. His aunt, Joan Maland, said he was about to propose marriage to his girlfriend.
Shortly before Youngblut’s arrest was announced on Friday, hundreds of law enforcement vehicles accompanied the hearse carrying Maland’s body from the University of Vermont morgue to a funeral home in Burlington.
