New Hampshire man charged in shooting at U.S.-Canada border

A 26-year-old New Hampshire man has been charged with the attempted murder of a U.S. border guard after a shooting near the Canadian border last weekend, during which he himself was shot.

Blu Zeke Daly, who also goes by the first name Cullen, was formally charged with the attempt on the federal officer’s life and one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

According to an FBI criminal complaint obtained by National Post, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer first stopped Daly late Saturday night as he was driving alone in a 2012 Honda Civic not registered to him near the Canadian border in Stewartson, N.H., about 260 kilometres from his residence in Manchester. (The border near Stewartson is technically located in neighbouring Beecher Falls, Vermont.)

When the officer asked if Daly went by any other names, Daly allegedly “immediately drove away,” leading the officer to follow him at a distance.

Investigators said Daly proceeded to drive north for roughly 30 minutes to the Pittsburg Port of Entry about 50 kilometres away, which borders on Chartierville, Que., arriving just after midnight to closed gates.

When the pursuing officer turned on his emergency lights and exited his vehicle, Daly allegedly started to turn his car around and fired a handgun at the officer as he did so. The CBP officer returned fire, striking Daly and causing him to lose control of the vehicle and plow into a nearby snowbank. Officials didn’t specify if the officer was injured during the incident.

Inside Daly’s vehicle, police allegedly found a Smith & Wesson SD9 2.0 handgun and ammunition, while a single “round of expended ammunition that appears to have been fired by Daly” was located in the CBP vehicle.

The DOJ said both charges carry sentences “of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.”

Daly remains under guard at a New Hampshire hospital and no further court dates have been set at this time. The FBI is leading the investigation.

In a statement to CBS , CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said his agency was “cooperating fully with investigators.”

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