Federal prosecutors said Monday that the woman who allegedly opened fire on U.S. border patrol agents in northern Vermont, killing one of them, used a firearm that had been bought by a person of interest in a double murder case in Pennsylvania.
On January 20, border patrol authorities stopped Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, a German national, while they were in a car together for an immigration check. According to court filings, Youngblut fired at the agents during the traffic check, and at least one of them returned fire.
During the gunfight, one of the operatives, David Chris Maland, 44, was killed. Court documents state that Youngblut was injured and that Bauckholt was shot dead after drawing a gun. It is unclear from the court filings whether Maland was hit by a fellow agent’s gunshot or one of the ones Youngblut allegedly fired.
About 20 miles south of the Canadian border, on a route in rural Orleans County, the incident took place.
On Monday afternoon, Youngblut will be arraigned on two federal charges, one of which is attacking a border patrol agent with a lethal weapon.
Federal prosecutors in Vermont said in court documents filed earlier Monday that Youngblut and Bauckholt both owned weapons that had been acquired by a Vermont resident in February 2024. Prosecutors stated the unnamed individual is a person of interest in a double killing that occurred in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
In the hours before the killings in Pennsylvania, Bauckholt took a plane into the United States. Additionally, according to the prosecution, Youngblut had “frequent contact” with a person who was held while the double killing was being investigated.
Federal authorities said the person is also a subject of interest in a Vallejo, California, murder case. No other information was given.
On the grounds that Youngblut poses a flight risk and is a danger to the community, prosecutors requested that a judge keep her incarcerated. They pointed out that it is unclear what her connections are to Vermont and that her principal residence has not been established.
“An originally peaceful interaction between the United States Border Patrol and the occupants of a vehicle became confrontational based on the defendant s conduct, and she then unnecessarily and inexplicably escalated to deadly violence,” according to the court filing.
In the past, prosecutors had claimed that Youngblut and Bauckholt were carrying a sizable arsenal of weapons and tactical gear, such as a ballistic helmet, night vision equipment, and 48 rounds of jacketed hollow point ammunition in the caliber of.380.
According to court filings, Homeland Security Investigations had been monitoring the two since January 14.
According to the documents, a hotel employee in Lyndonville, Vermont, had called the police to voice concerns on a man and a woman who had checked into the establishment. According to reports, the woman—later identified as Youngblut—was spotted with an apparent gun in an open carry holster. According to court documents, Youngblut and Bauckholt were both dressed in all-black tactical apparel and protective gear.
According to court filings, Bauckholt, the registered owner of the Toyota Prius they were in, seemed to have an expired visa on a Department of Homeland Security database when the car was stopped over. However, according to the FBI, Bauckholt’s visa was valid at the time.