Border Patrol Shooting Is Under Investigation in Vermont

U.S.|Border Patrol Agent Is Killed in Vermont Shooting

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot and killed on Monday afternoon on Interstate 91 in northern Vermont, about 12 miles from the Canadian border.

The shooting was under investigation, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on Monday night. The agency includes the Border Patrol.

Earlier in the day, Interstate 91 was closed in both directions as a result of the investigation, the State Police said. The northbound lane later reopened, while the southbound remained closed, in what was “expected to be a long duration closure,” the police said in a news release.

Officials said the shooting occurred about 3:15 p.m. on the interstate in the town of Coventry but provided no other details. The F.B.I. was leading the investigation.

Agents on the northern border have seen a growing number of attempted illegal crossings in recent years, making more than 23,000 arrests during the fiscal year that ended in September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That number is more than twice that of the previous year.

Most of the arrests were made in the Swanton Sector, a vast rural stretch of border roughly 300 miles long between Quebec, New York and northern New England, which includes Vermont. The agent killed on Monday was assigned to the Swanton Sector, officials said.

Canadian officials have attributed much of the increase to immigrants from India who arrive in Canada on temporary visas and then cross the border into the United States.

Border officials have also seen an increase in encounters with migrants from Mexico who fly to Canada and cross into the United States. Most show up at ports of entry to request asylum, but others try to enter the country illegally.

Despite the increase, the number of attempted illegal crossings from Canada remains much smaller than the number occurring at the southern border with Mexico.