German citizen and US border official shot dead near Canadian border

A German citizen has been shot dead in an exchange of gunfire near the border with Canada. Both he and his companion Teresa Youngblut, a US citizen, had been under surveillance by the FBI for several days. Youngblut, who was shot, will be brought before a US federal judge on Monday.

When US Border Patrol officers conducted a vehicle check on Interstate 91 around 32 kilometres south of the border, the driver of the car opened fire on the officers.

The passenger, German citizen Felix B., and a United States Border Patrol officer were shot and killed in the exchange of gunfire.

According to court documents, about 15 minutes after the vehicle was stopped, the female driver of the vehicle exited the car, pulled out a handgun and opened fire without warning. B. attempted to draw a weapon but was shot.

The officer and the German were shot in the ensuing exchange of fire, the driver was injured. Who fired the fatal shots is the subject of an ongoing investigation.

According to the FBI, the German is Felix B., who was in the USA on a valid tourist visa. The charges against Youngblut include two counts: Use of a deadly weapon in the assault on a U.S. Border Patrol agent and use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to that assault. No charges have yet been filed for the murder of the Border Patrol agent.

Youngblut, who is 21, is expected to appear in federal court on Monday to be formally charged.

At least one Border Patrol agent shot at Youngblut and Felix B., but authorities have not specified whose bullets hit whom.

Investigators had been “regularly monitoring” Youngblut and Felix B. since Jan. 14, after an employee at a hotel where they were staying noticed that Youngblut was armed and that she and B. were wearing black