U.S. officer shoots at truck driver near N.B. border crossing

Traffic is back up and running through the border crossing between Woodstock, N.B., and Houlton, Maine, after a security scare Monday.

At about 10:40 a.m., Maine State Police tried to stop a vehicle on Interstate 95 northbound in Houlton.

The force says Trooper Denver Roy saw a sign on the truck indicating that the driver had an explosive device on board.

Despite attempts by Roy to pull the vehicle over, it continued, stopping between the U.S. and Canadian ports of entry, police say.

At that point, troopers ordered the driver to get out of the vehicle.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, police say 42-year-old Tony Holford from Providence, R.I., moved his truck closer to the Canadian side of the border.

Maine State Trooper Cpl. Eric Paquette fired a shot at the driver.

Holford wasn’t injured.

Police say he surrendered to officers, and after being medically cleared, was taken to the Aroostook County Jail.

Holford is charged with:

• aggravated reckless conduct - Class B
• terrorizing - Class D
• failure to stop - Class E.

The area was closed off while crime scene technicians and the Maine State Police Bomb Squad processed the scene.

The Office of the Maine Attorney General is working with the Maine State Police to piece together the events that led up to the officer-involved shooting.

Both groups are collaborating with Canadian authorities to investigate the incident.

The border reopened last night at 10:45 p.m. to all traffic.

While it was closed, the Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA ) redirected traffic to other crossings including St. Leonard, Edmundston and Centreville.

The Bloomfield border crossing was closed temporarily to allow officers to help with the operation in Woodstock.