Authorities have apprehended the leader of a cult-like organization associated with several homicides, including the recent fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont. This arrest occurred in Maryland on charges of trespassing and other offenses, police reported on Monday.

The individual, Jack LaSota, 34, who uses the alias “Ziz” and has expressed concerns regarding the risks of artificial intelligence, was taken into custody on Sunday in Frostburg, a small town located between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., as stated by the Maryland State Police.

LaSota, a resident of Berkeley, California, is also facing a firearm-related charge along with allegations of obstruction. Two accomplices—Michelle Zajko, 32, from Media, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Blank, 26, from Sacramento, California—were arrested under similar charges.

All three individuals are currently being held in a local jail, and it remains uncertain whether they have legal representation at this time.

According to the police announcement, which lacked additional specifics regarding the charges, the agency is collaborating with federal law enforcement and the Allegany County state’s attorney’s office as part of an ongoing investigation.

LaSota, previously linked to a Berkeley organization that aims to leverage mathematical and logical concepts for societal betterment, was alleged to have died in a boating accident in August 2022, as noted in a brief obituary in her native Alaska.

However, since then, LaSota, who identifies as female, and her associates have been implicated in a series of violent incidents, including a stabbing in 2022 that left an elderly man partially blind. That victim was later murdered last month in an attack allegedly aimed at preventing him from testifying in the upcoming trial regarding the initial assault, set to commence this spring.

While LaSota has not been officially charged in relation to that murder, she was present at the scene of the 2022 attack just three months after her supposed death, according to a prosecutor’s email sent to one of LaSota’s attorneys at that time.

In January 2023, the bodies of Zajko’s parents were discovered in their Pennsylvania residence, both succumbing to gunshot wounds. LaSota has since been charged with obstructing the investigation into their deaths and was released after posting a $10,000 bail.

A bench warrant was issued for LaSota’s arrest after she failed to appear in court, and her whereabouts were unknown as recently as earlier this month.

Zajko was initially taken into custody regarding her parents’ killings but has since been released and has not been formally charged.

Another follower of LaSota, German national Ophelia Bauckholt, was involved in a deadly altercation with Border Patrol agents in Vermont last month. This incident occurred during a traffic stop when a passenger in Bauckholt’s vehicle allegedly discharged a firearm at one of the agents, prosecutors revealed.

Both Bauckholt and Border Patrol agent David Maland were killed in this exchange of gunfire. An FBI affidavit indicates that Bauckholt fired her weapon during the confrontation.

The exact details surrounding the shooting are still being investigated, with Teresa Youngblut, another passenger, pleading not guilty to firearms-related charges.

Shortly after the tragic incident, federal authorities reached out to firearms dealers in Vermont, seeking assistance in tracing any purchases made by Michelle Zajko, who has been identified as a person of interest in agent Maland’s death.