A woman charged in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a shootout at a traffic stop near the Canadian border earlier this year, is the one who fired the bullet that struck him in the neck, authorities said in a new report.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, and her companion, Felix Bauckholt, who were affiliated with the Zizians, a cultlike group that has also allegedly been linked to killings in Pennsylvania and California, had been under surveillance since January 14 after a hotel employee had reported them as suspicious after seeing them carrying at least one firearm and wearing black tactical gear.
On January 20, an agent pulled them over on Interstate 91 and, about 30 minutes into the stop, asked the pair to get out of their car to be questioned, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in the report, which doesn't name anyone involved.
Youngblut then “suddenly drew a firearm and opened fire," killing the agent David Maland, according to the report.
One of four agents on the scene returned fire, striking Youngblut once in the arm and once in the leg.
The same agent reported that Bauckholt began drawing a firearm from his side and that he ordered him to stop.
Bauckholt, a German citizen, “failed to comply,” and was fatally shot twice in the chest, according to the agent.
Two minutes after that exchange, an agent radioed in that another had suffered a critical gunshot wound to the neck, the report said. Agents and a Vermont state trooper rendered aid to him and he was driven to a hospital, where he died.
Youngblut was arrested and police attempted to place a tourniquet on her leg while awaiting emergency responders, according to the report.
In total, that agent fired about eight rounds and Youngblut fired four, according to the border agency report.
Two guns were later recovered from the scene that had been in Youngblut and Bauckholt's possession, authorities said.
On January 19, a border patrol agent assigned to a Homeland Security Investigations Task Force notified the border patrol Newport Station management of a report that the couple had checked into a hotel wearing black tactical gear on January 13, according to the report.
At least one of them was carrying a gun and both arrived in the Prius they were later in during the shootout.
The agent advised the Newport station that state and federal law enforcement officials “had previously identified the male as a German citizen, in possession of a H1B visa with unknown immigration status.”
Youngblut is charged with intentionally using a deadly weapon towards federal law enforcement, and using and discharging a firearm during an assault with a deadly weapon. She pleaded not guilty.
When asked to comment on the report, Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, a spokesperson for the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, said the office “does not comment on ongoing cases beyond the public record.”
Additional reporting by AP.
