Border Patrol Agent Is Killed in Vermont Shooting

Officials said the agent was shot on Interstate 91, which was closed for several hours near the border with Canada.

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, in which another person was also killed and a third was wounded, was being investigated by the Albany office of the F.B.I. as an assault on a federal officer, the agency said in a statement.

The wounded person was taken into custody, the statement said, but the F.B.I. did not immediately announce charges and provided no additional details.

Officials said the shooting occurred about 3:15 p.m. in the town of Coventry. Interstate 91 was initially shut down in both directions, though the northbound lanes later reopened. The southbound lanes were expected to remain closed for “a long duration closure,” the Vermont State Police said in a news release.

The F.B.I. said in its statement that it needed time to “gather evidence and process the scene,” adding: “While there is no threat to the public, Interstate 91 will remain closed due to investigative activity.”

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.