Charge: Woman in car packed with tactical gear fatally shot Minnesota native working as border agent in Vermont

A 21-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the killing this week of a native Minnesotan during a shootout while he was on duty as a federal border agent in Vermont, officials said Friday.

Teresa Youngblut of Seattle was charged in the killing of David “Chris” Maland, 44, who grew up in Blue Earth, the FBI in Albany, N.Y., announced.

A German man with Youngblut, 30-year-old Felix Baukholt, was killed during Monday’s gunfight. Another person not officially identified was wounded and hospitalized, the FBI said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont has charged Youngblut with assault on a federal law enforcement officer. As of Wednesday, she was receiving medical attention at a New Hampshire hospital.

A hearing is scheduled for Youngblut on Monday in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vt. Her attorney declined to comment Friday to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Maland is the first Border Patrol agent to be killed by gunfire in the line of duty in more than a decade.

The charging document revealed that a Vermont State Police search of Baukholt’s car after the shootout turned up two handguns and ammunition magazines.

The filing also revealed that another search of the car by the FBI turned up tactical and communications gear, including a ballistic helmet, a night-vision monocular, a belt with a holster and loaded magazine, a packet of shooting targets, a pair of two-way handheld radios and a dozen electronic devices. Lodging information for several states and a journal was found among Youngblut’s identification documents.

The filing does not disclose why the two were in possession of these items.

According to the charging document, the FBI said Youngblut and Baukholt had been under surveillance for several days leading up to the confrontation.

Maland stopped Youngblut and Baukholt in his car, which had North Carolina plates, on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vt., because Baukholt appeared to have an expired visa, an FBI affidavit read.

During the stop, Youngblut, who was inside the car, opened fire on Maland and other officers. Baukholt tried to draw a gun but was shot, the affidavit continued. At least one border agent fired on Youngblut and Baukholt, who died at the scene. Maland died at a nearby hospital.

Investigators had been conducting periodic surveillance of the pair since Jan. 14, when an employee at a Lyndonville, Vt., 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 said little more than they were looking to buy property.

About two hours before the shooting, investigators watched Baukholt exit a Walmart in Newport, Vt., with two packages of aluminum foil. He was seen wrapping unidentifiable objects while in a vehicle passenger seat.

Maland was a graduate of Fairmont High School and an Air Force veteran who spent the past 15 years working along U.S. borders in Texas and Vermont among other assignments.

In a statement, his family also said it was believed he had been planning to ask for his partner’s hand in marriage.

Joan Maland, an aunt of David Maland and a spokeswoman for the family, said Tuesday, “He loved his family and was looking forward to a life with the love of his life and her daughter.”

An online fundraiser on behalf of Maland’s family noted that he provided security for the State Department and the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks.

Among Maland’s survivors is his cousin, Minnesota state Rep. Krista Knudsen, a Republican who lives in Lake Shore, north of Brainerd. On Wednesday, the state House of Representatives observed a moment of silence in Maland’s honor.

“Throughout his years of humble service, he was offered many opportunities for promotion and personal advancement,” a statement released by Knudsen said. “However, he always declined because he was far more interested in making a difference and doing his job in the field. Chris died in the line of duty, serving to protect his country. I cherish the memories that we have together and mourn his sacrifice.”

Elliot Hughes of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story, which also contains material from the Associated Press.