Prosecutors seek death penalty in fatal shooting of Border Patrol agent
Teresa Youngblut, 21, is accused of fatally shooting David Maland on Jan. 20 in northern Vermont. Police say she opened fire on agents during a traffic stop, sparking a shootout that also left her companion, Felix Baukholt, a German national, dead.
Youngblut initially faced federal firearm charges and was ordered held without bail in January. On Thursday, prosecutors announced that a Vermont grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Youngblut with the murder of the Border Patrol agent and the assault of two additional agents with a deadly weapon, along with related firearms offenses.
Lawyers for Youngblut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Youngblut and Baukholt had been under surveillance by law enforcement officials for several days prior to the shooting after a hotel employee reported the two were wearing tactical gear and appeared to be armed.
On the day of the shooting, officers observed the two in a parking lot in Newport, Vermont, where Baukholt appeared to be wrapping unknown objects in aluminum foil, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, both Youngblut and Baukholt were armed during the traffic stop. Youngblut exited the vehicle and opened fire, killing one of the agents, authorities said.
"We will not stand for such attacks on the men and women who protect our communities and our borders," acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said Thursday in a statement.
According to The Associated Press, authorities have linked the shooting to the Zizians group, a cultlike group that consists of radical computer scientists focused on veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence. They have been linked to six deaths in three states.
Passenger arrested after allegedly causing disturbance midair and forcing flight to divert
When could Tropical Storm Erin become a hurricane?
Hurricane Erin to hit Puerto Rico with heavy rain as it moves by the island
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Three dead, eight wounded in mass shooting at Brooklyn lounge
Three men were killed and eight people wounded in a mass shooting in a Brooklyn lounge early Sunday, cops said. More than one shooter opened fire in the Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Avenue near Carroll Street in Crown Heights just before 3:30 a.m., cops said. 'We have multiple shooters involved in this shooting and we have recovered 36 shell casings,' NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press briefing outside the lounge. 'It's a terrible shooting that's occurred.' Cops recovered one firearm close by the lounge near Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway, she said. Investigators are reviewing surveillance video and no arrests have been made so far. Pierre Tutu, 50, heard the shots while standing near his parked car down the street, he told the New York Times. 'There were a lot of them,' he said. 'People were flying all over the place trying to save their lives.' 'I saw people, shot, all over the place,' he added. 'Sitting, waiting for help, screaming, crying.' The dead include two men, ages 35 and 27, and a third whose age is not yet known. They died at the scene. Five men and three women were wounded but survived, the oldest 61 and the youngest 27, according to police sources. They were all hospitalized and are expected to recover. Customer James Jones left the lounge around 3 a.m., returning to his home across the street, he told The Times. He went back outside after getting a call from a friend about what happened. 'Five, six people outside shot,' Jones told The Times. 'People over here shot, people over there shot.' It's the second shooting at the club in less than a year. A 28-year-old man survived being shot in the back and arm in front of the club about 4 a.m. Nov. 17, according to police. The victim told cops he was standing outside the lounge when two men he didn't know approached him and started arguing with him, cop sources said. One of them whipped out a gun and opened fire. In February, cops released surveillance footage of a suspect they were still looking for in that shooting and asked the public's help identifying him. Taste of the City serves Caribbean fusion cuisine and has a full bar with hookahs, DJs and live music. The explosion of violence at the lounge Sunday was the second mass shooting in New York City in three weeks. On June 28, Shane Tamura opened fire with an assault rifle in a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, murdering an NYPD officer and three others before killing himself. The violence comes as the city has seen significant drops in violent crimes through Aug. 10 compared to the same period last year, including a 24% drop in murders and a 21% drop in shootings. 'We have the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims seven months into the year that we've seen on record in the city of New York,' Tisch said Sunday outside Taste of the City. 'Something like this is, of course, thank God, an anomaly. And it's a terrible thing that happened this morning but we're going to investigate and get to the bottom of what went down.' _____
CBS News
28 minutes ago
- CBS News
Illinois State Police trooper hurt in crash involving drunk driver on Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway
An Illinois State Police trooper was hurt after their squad car was hit by an alleged drunk driver on the Ronald Regan Memorial Tollway early Sunday morning. State police said the crash happened shortly after 4 a.m. on I-88 westbound at milepost 139 in DuPage County. The involved trooper was assisting another motorist and was parked behind a broken-down tractor-trailer with emergency lights activated. During this, the driver of a Tesla failed to move over and hit the rear passenger side of the squad car, causing it to hit the rear of the tractor-trailer, state police said. The trooper was inside the squad car at the time of the crash. Both the trooper and Tesla driver were taken to area hospitals with injuries. The Tesla driver, 24-year-old Sebastian G. Rodriguez of Romeoville, Illinois, was charged with Driving Under the Influence and Aggravated Scott's Law/Move Over Law violations. The trooper's squad car had to be towed from the scene due to disabling damage from the crash. According to state police, there have already been nine Move Over Law-related crashes this year. In 2024, there were 27 Move Over Law-related crashes with 12 troopers injured and one death.
Washington Post
28 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Man's death in Alexandria police custody is being investigated, officials say
A Woodbridge man died in police custody at the Alexandria jail on Friday evening after he was accused of public intoxication at an apartment complex, authorities said. Alexandria police shared few details about the circumstances of the man's death. But they later identified him as 32-year-old Allan F. Tucker II of Woodbridge and said in a news release that his death would be investigated.
