Guns recovered in shootout with Vermont border agents linked to “radical” cult-like group
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Rutland, VT — Federal prosecutors have a new link between a deadly shootout with border agents in Northern Vermont and a cult already tied to other violent killings.
A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont says the guns used in the border shootout were bought last February in Rutland County by Michelle Zajko. Zajko was arrested in Maryland Sunday with two other members of the “Zizian” cult, including its leader Jack “Ziz” LaSota. Those three are tied to several killings in California and Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors say Zajko bought one handgun on February 13, 2024, and bought three more the next day at a gun store in Mount Tabor, VT. According to the complaint, she provided a false Vermont residential address on her Federal Firearms Transaction Record. Two of the guns, a .40-caliber Glock and a .380-caliber Smith & Wesson, were recovered last month after a shooting with border agents in Vermont.
Teresa Youngblut was arrested at the scene of the shooting on January 20, with the Glock in her hand. Another suspect, Felix Baukholt, was killed in the shooting. The .380 pistol was found in a holster on his waistband. Border Patrol Agent David Maland was shot and killed in the exchange of gunfire. Youngblut is in custody; she pleaded not guilty to felony gun charges but has not been charged with Maland’s killing.
The complaint against Zajko says the guns recovered last month match serial numbers that were in the inventory of the Mount Tabor shop last year at the time Zajko made her purchases. Prosecutors say the serial number on the .380 pistol was a direct match to one bought by Zajko, but there was an error on a handwritten form regarding the Glock. Still, prosecutors say the gun Zajko bought is the one found on Youngblut.
At the time of their arrest Sunday, police say Zajko and LaSota had guns with them–two handguns and a rifle. It’s not clear if these handguns were the same ones Zajko bought in Vermont last year. The pair, along with a third person arrested Sunday, are being held without bail.
Zajko is a person of interest in her own parents’ killing at their Pennsylvania home.
Content retrieved from: https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/guns-recovered-in-shootout-with-vt-border-agents-linked-to-radical-cult-like-group-zizian-jack-lasota-teresa-youngblut-california-pennsylvania-michelle-zajko-david-maland.
