A Minnesota native who was working as a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont was shot and killed on-duty near the Canadian border Monday.
U.S. border patrol agent who was fatally shot in Vermont near Canadian border was from Minnesota
The agent was identified as David “Chris” Maland, 44. Maland was a Blue Earth native and a graduate of Fairmont High School.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 22, 2025 at 3:41AM
The agent was identified as David “Chris” Maland, 44, on Tuesday by authorities and his family. Maland was a Blue Earth native, a graduate of Fairmont High School and a U.S. Air Force veteran who spent the last 15 years working along U.S. borders in Texas and Vermont among other assignments.
In a statement, his family also said it was believed he had been planning to soon ask for his partner’s hand in marriage.
“The family is just broken hearted. That’s all I can say,” said Joan Maland, an aunt of David Maland and a spokeswoman for the family, in a Tuesday night interview. “He loved his family and was looking forward to a life with the love of his life and her daughter.
“I can’t explain how sad we all are.”
Maland was involved in a traffic stop Monday afternoon on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vt., about 20 miles from the border. The stop at one point escalated to an exchange of gunfire, according to a statement from the FBI.
Maland was struck and later died. The circumstances of the traffic stop and the shooting were not provided, but the agency said a German national, in the U.S. on a current visa, was also killed in the incident. A third individual was injured and hospitalized.
In a joint statement Monday, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont said, “Our deepest condolences go out to the agent’s family, and to the Border Patrol.”
Joan Maland described her nephew as an avid outdoorsman who loved his family and was committed to his profession. He is survived by his parents, a younger brother and his partner.
“He had a tremendous respect and pride for the work he did: he truly embodied service over self,” the family’s statement said.
Maland was the first Border Patrol agent to be killed in the line of duty in little more than a decade.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The agent was identified as David “Chris” Maland, 44. Maland was a Blue Earth native and a graduate of Fairmont High School.
