U.S. Border Patrol Agent Fatally Shot in Northern Vermont

Updated on January 21, 2025.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot
and killed during a gunfight at a traffic
stop along Interstate 91 in Coventry on
Monday afternoon, according to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

One person in the car, a German
national in the U.S. on a visa, was
also killed, while a second person was
injured and hospitalized, the FBI said.

The agent was identified on Tuesday
as David “Chris” Maland. Public records
indicate that a David C. Maland, 44, lived
in Newport and previously spent time
living in Texas near the southern border.
Maland was also a U.S. Air Force veteran,
according to the FBI.

The agency did not name either of

the people in the car, saying the investigation “remains extremely active.”

The shooting happened around 3:15
p.m. on Monday. I-91 between exits 26
and 27 was closed for hours before
the northbound lanes were reopened.
Authorities spent the night at the
scene investigating and reopened the
southbound lanes of the highway on
Tuesday morning. The area is about
15 miles south of the U.S. border with
Canada.

I-91 northbound between Exit 26 and Exit 27 has reopened, but the southbound lane remained closed in what was anticipated to be a “long-duration” stoppage, state police said. The area is about 15 miles south of the U.S. border with Canada.
The shooting came hours after President Donald Trump took the oath of office. During his inaugural address, Trump said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border and would deploy troops there to accelerate the deportations of criminal offenders.

Officials have cited an unprecedented number of illegal crossings at the northern border in recent years.

In a statement later Monday, Vermont’s congressional delegation — U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) — offered their “deepest condolences” to the agent’s family and the border patrol. The statement said Maland had been assigned to the patrol’s Swanton Sector, which covers the border in Vermont, New Hampshire and some of New York State.

“Border Patrol agents do important work protecting our borders,” the statement said. They deserve our full support in terms of staffing, pay and working conditions. We look forward to working with the agency to make sure that they have all the resources they need to do the enormously important work that is their responsibility. Together, we must do everything possible to prevent future tragedies like what happened today.”

At an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott offered condolences to Maland’s family and urged the media to “only report on the facts” of the evolving incident.

“Not based on speculation, assumptions or something some other media source has already misreported,” Scott said.