Two suspects in a shootout that killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont had been known to authorities for almost a week. Teresa Youngblut, 21, was charged with one count of using a deadly weapon while assaulting a Border Patrol agent and one count of using and discharging a firearm. Felix Baukholt, a German citizen who was traveling with her, was also killed in the shootout. Investigators had been performing “periodic surveillance” of Baukholt and Youngblut since Jan. 14, when a concerned citizen notified law enforcement about their behavior, reports the Washington Post. After the shooting, authorities said they recovered guns and tactical equipment allegedly belonging to Baukholt and Youngblut. The two were driving a Toyota Prius registered to Baukholt when Border Patrol agents stopped them near the U.S. border with Canada to conduct an immigration inspection. Baukholt appeared to have an expired visa.
Youngblut allegedly fired a .40-caliber pistol at least twice from the driver’s side of the Prius and “one or more” Border Patrol agents returned fire with 9mm handguns. Youngblut, Baukholt and Border Patrol agent David Maland all sustained gunshot wounds. Baukholt was pronounced dead at the scene, and Maland was pronounced dead at a hospital. Youngblut and Baukholt had been on the radar of law enforcement officials for almost a week before the incident. On Jan. 14, an employee of a hotel in Lyndonville, Vt., noticed the two while they were checking in and reported to law enforcement that they were dressed in all-black tactical clothing and visibly armed, according to court documents. Investigators had tried to initiate a conversation with them, but the pair declined to talk extensively and checked out shortly after, saying they were in the area to buy property. Before their Prius was stopped last Monday, Youngblut and Baukholt were seen outside a Walmart in Newport, Vt., “wrapping unidentifiable objects with aluminum foil while seated in the vehicle.”
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