A US Border Patrol agent was fatally shot in Vermont, near Canada

Authorities were Tuesday investigation into fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who also left a suspect dead and another injured on a highway in Vermont, near Canada, authorities said.

Agent David Maland was killed Monday afternoon following a traffic stop, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement. A German national in the country on what the FBI called an active visa was killed and an injured suspect was taken into custody and is being treated at a local hospital.

The violence temporarily closed part of Interstate 91 about 20 miles from Canada in Coventry, part of the small community of 27,000 in Orleans County in the northeastern section of Vermont, straddling the international border.

Maland, who the FBI confirmed was a U.S. Air Force veteran, was killed near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Newport station, part of the Swanton sector to which he was assigned. The area encompasses Vermont, parts of New York and New Hampshire, and includes 295 miles (475 kilometers) of international border with Canada.

The Derby Line – Rock Island border crossing is located approximately 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) by highway north of Coventry. It is a major link to the Canadian province of Quebec, giving northern Vermont more French speakers than most of New England.

“The thoughts and prayers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection are with Officer Maland’s family during this difficult time,” the agency said in a statement. The death is a tragedy, said Gov. Phil Scott and Sen. Russ Ingalls, a Republican who represents the area.

Vincent Illuzzi, state’s attorney for neighboring Essex County, drove past what appeared to be a traffic stop by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on I-91 after exiting Newport Monday afternoon , he said, shortly before authorities announced that the shots had been fired.

“I’m heading towards the road, there’s not a lot of traffic, and I saw them on the right,” he told The Associated Press by telephone on Tuesday.

The officer was driving an unmarked white van with a taxi and red and blue flashing lights, he said. The stopped vehicle appeared to be a small blue car, he said. The officer was speaking with someone standing in front of his truck behind the car, he said.

“Nothing unusual at this point,” Illuzzi said, but when he returned to the highway later that night, it appeared the same two vehicles were still parked and other law enforcement vehicles were still parked. The order had arrived.

Illuzzi said the U.S. Border Patrol works closely with state and local police in his county. “Our law enforcement is limited and they are often the first responders in an emergency. »

Maland was the first Border Patrol agent to be killed in the line of duty since Javier Vega Jr. was shot and killed near Santa Monica, Texas, in 2014, according to records provided by Customs and Protection borders of the United States. Vega was initially considered off-duty at the time of his death, but in 2016 he was again determined to be on duty, the agency said.

In 2010, Brian Terry The killing exposed the botched federal gun operation known as “Fast and Furious.” Border Patrol Agent Nicholas J. Ivie, of the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station, was fatally injured in the line of duty in a remote area near Bisbee, Arizona, in 2012. The agent Border Patrol officer Isaac Morales was fatally stabbed while off-duty in 2017 in Texas.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would provide an update later this week. Vermont State Police and the Orleans County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment Tuesday.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint sent their condolences to the agent’s family in a joint statement and said Border Patrol agents “deserve our full staffing support , wages and working conditions.