By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

Veteran U.S. Border Patrol Agent David “Chris” Maland of Newport, who was gunned down during a deadly traffic stop near the Canadian border last month, was laid to rest in his home state of Minnesota over the weekend.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers, including a huge delegation from the U.S. Border Patrol from throughout the country attended the emotional service at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. They joined family, friends and community members for the one-hour service on Saturday.

Besides his federal co-workers from the Green Mountain State, Maland also was honored with a small delegation of troopers from the Vermont State Police led by Lt. Andy Jenson, station commander at the Derby barracks.

Orleans County Sheriff Jennifer Harlow, Newport Police Officer James LeClair, who used his cruiser to rush Maland to the local hospital after the shooting also were part of the Vermont delegation. At least 3 members of the Department of Motor Vehicles attended.

Vermont State Police also had one trooper selected as part of a special honor guard that the six New England state police agencies created for the Maland memorial.

Among those to speak at the outdoor ceremony was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who praised Maland’s work and dedication.

Noem noted she was struck by the deep appreciation for Maland, 44, when she flew to Vermont to visit with his family and his Border Patrol colleagues a few days after the shooting. Everybody had positive comments about Maland, she said.

The new Secretary said the Vermont trip was “incredibly impactful for me.”

She urged everybody attending the memorial to write a brief story or comment about Maland so that his family can hand them down for generations.

Jacob Maland also spoke briefly about his brother having courage and being fearless. He tried to fight back the emotion of the event, and two Border Patrol Agents moved in next to him to offer support as he completed his comments with a choking voice.

Also on hand and in a Canadian law enforcement uniform was a woman who was believed to be Maland’s fiancée. Officials have said she works on the Canadian side of the border.

The shooting was less than 10 miles south from the Canadian border along I-91.

The American flag that draped the wood casket was folded by the six pallbearers from the U.S. Border Patrol as the bagpipers and drummers played “Amazing Grace.”

Noem, a former South Dakota Governor, handed the folded flag to Maland’s parents toward the end of the memorial and other remembrances also were presented to the family.

Taps also were played for Maland, who received a 21-gun salute.

As part of the memorial procession, a Border Patrol Agent led a horse without a rider and with a saddle carrying reversed boots in the stirrups as a longstanding symbol of a fallen leader.

The Border Patrol had its own delegation of 5 bagpipers, and 3 drummers following behind the four flag bearers.

More than 260,000 people are buried at the national cemetery. It is located next to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where Maland’s casket was flown into a few days after the shooting in Vermont.

Maland was fatally shot shortly after he ordered a 2015 Blue Toyota Prius that was registered in North Carolina to pull over on Interstate 91 in Coventry about 3 p.m. Jan. 20.

Authorities have said that without any warning, the driver, Theresa Youngblut, 21, got out of the car and opened fire. Maland was struck by one of two shots in the neck and never got a chance to return fire.

At least one other Border Patrol, who joined the traffic stop, returned fire and wounded Youngblut. The unnamed agent also fatally shot her passenger, Felix Bauckholt, 28, a German National, the car’s owner, officials said.

Officer LeClair used his Newport Police cruiser to rush Maland to North Country Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead about 4 p.m.

Two .40-caliber casings recovered at the scene support the belief that Youngblut fired her handgun twice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has said.

“Another Border Patrol Agent returned fire, wounding Youngblut; that agent then observed Bauckholt was attempting to draw his firearm when he was fatally wounded, ATF Task Force Agent Jamie Loomis has said.

“Following the incident, Youngblut and Bauckholt were each found to be in direct possession of a handgun — Youngblut was holding a Glock 23 .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and Bauckholt had a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield EZ .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol in a holster on his waistband,” Loomis wrote.

The FBI had been closed mouth about the fatal shooting, including whether Maland died in the line of duty from friendly fire.

Youngblut has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on federal agents. New U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she believes this case is a good example to use for a death sentence.

Nobody has been charged with the fatal shooting yet.

Another woman from Orleans has been officially charged with the illegal purchase of the two firearms used by her two friends in the deadly shootout last month in Coventry.

Michelle J. Zajko, 32, was named in a one-count criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington by the ATF.

She is charged with making false statements while buying four handguns on Feb. 13 and 14, 2024 at The Last Frontier, a federally licensed gun dealer on U.S. 7 in Mount Tabor, south of Rutland.

Zajko is in custody in Maryland on unrelated charges. She also is a person of interest in the double homicide deaths of her parents on New Year’s Eve 2022.