A new report provides more details into the fatal shooting of a border patrol agent earlier this year in Coventry, Vt., as authorities consider bringing new charges against Teresa Youngblut, who has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Federal officials said for the first time that Youngblut shot a border patrol agent in the Jan. 20 traffic stop along Interstate 91, according to a one-page summary of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report on the incident issued this week. 

But the document, which does not name any of the people involved, does not explicitly say who fired the shot that killed Border Patrol Agent David Maland — an open question for the public in a case that has drawn national attention.

The document issued Wednesday by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection was titled, “Summary of Incident: Border Patrol Agent and subject killed during vehicle stop in Vermont.” 

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson referred a question Thursday seeking clarification on who fired the fatal shot that killed Maland to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont.

That office, through a spokesperson, declined comment Thursday on Youngblut’s case.

Sarah Ruane, a spokesperson for the FBI, the law enforcement agency leading the probe into the incident, stated in an email Thursday that since the “investigation remains active and ongoing,” she could not answer the question of who fired the fatal shot.  

In response to VtDigger’s request for the report on which the summary was based, Ryan Brissette, a spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, stated in an email that he couldn’t provide any additional details. 

“Unfortunately, this is the available information at this time,” he said.

Youngblut, 21, from Washington state, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Vermont earlier this year for her alleged role in the shootout that killed Maland and a passenger in the Toyota Prius that Youngblut had been driving. 

One of the charges alleged that Youngblut “used a firearm while knowingly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a U.S. Border Patrol Agent while he was engaged in official duties.” The second charge alleged Youngblut “knowingly carried, brandished and discharged a firearm” during a violent crime.  

Neither charge directly stated that Youngblut fired the fatal shot that killed Maland. 

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection report into the incident released Wednesday, a border patrol agent stopped the Toyota Prius at about 2:36 p.m. on Jan. 2 on Interstate 91 in Coventry, less than 10 miles from the Canadian border.

Additional border patrol agents and the Vermont State Police arrived at the scene as a border patrol agent requested record checks on the two people inside the vehicle, who have been identified in federal court records as Youngblut, the driver, and Felix Bauckholt, a German national and a passenger in the vehicle who used the first name Ophelia, according to acquaintances and media reports.

Border patrol agents in Newport had received a tip a day earlier from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, which stated that two people had checked into a hotel wearing tactical gear about a week earlier and were seen driving in a blue Toyota Prius, according to the Customs an d Border Protection report. 

The tip said that one of the two people was a German national who had a visa with “unknown immigration status,” the report stated. 

At about 3:10 p.m. on Jan. 20, border patrol agents asked Youngblut and Bauckholt to get out of the vehicle for questioning, the report stated. Border agents reported that Youngblut “suddenly drew a firearm and opened fire,” striking a border patrol agent. 

According to the report, there were four border patrol officers on the scene, one of whom returned fire and shot Youngblut in the arm and in the leg. The same agent also reported that Bauckholt “began drawing a firearm from his side.” After Bauckholt refused orders to stop, the border patrol agent reported he shot him twice in the chest. Bauckholt was later pronounced dead at the scene, the report stated.  

A couple minutes later, the report stated, the border patrol agent requested “immediate emergency medical services” with one of the agents suffering from a critical gunshot wound to the neck.

Border patrol agents and a state police trooper on scene provided aid to the injured border patrol agent and a Newport police officer arrived and drove that agent to North Country Hospital in Newport where he later died, the report stated. 

The report does not name Maland, but federal court records filed in Youngblut’s criminal case identified the 44-year-old Newport resident as the border patrol agent who was shot and killed in the incident. 

Youngblut was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon for treatment for injuries and later released from the hospital. She was soon after charged with federal firearms and assault offenses and has been held in custody since.

Youngblut and Bauckholt have since been tied by authorities to a group known as Zizians, who have been linked by law enforcement to a double homicide in Pennsylvania and the murder of a landlord in California. 

A deadline for filing motions in Youngblut’s criminal case in Vermont had been set for this week. However, federal Chief Judge Christina Reiss granted a request from Youngblut’s attorney, Steven Barth, to extend that deadline to Aug. 7.

According to Barth’s motion seeking more time, federal prosecutors had notified him that “substantial” discovery material would be coming in the case. Also, Barth wrote, “the government has indicated that it is actively exploring additional charges.”

Federal prosecutors, the filing added, did not object to the requested motions’ deadline extension. 

Barth could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Also in the case, acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont Michael Drescher submitted a filing this week notifying the court that Dennis E. Robinson, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney in the “Violent Crime and Racketeering Section,” will be assisting in Youngblut’s prosecution.

Essex County State’s Attorney Vince Illuzzi, who drove by the traffic stop scene before the shooting, said Thursday after reading the report that it still remained unclear to him who fired the fatal shot that killed Maland.

“The litmus test will be whether one of the new charges is a murder charge,” said Illuzzi, who is not involved in the investigation or prosecution of the case. 

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To support this work, please visit vtdigger.org/donate.