What to Know
- Two National Guard members, a woman and a man in their 20s, had surgery after they were shot in an ambush blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.
- The sole suspect also was shot and taken into custody shortly after the shooting. He was identified as an Afghan national who served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
- Officials say it’s too early to determine a motive for the shooting. The suspect faces charges, including three counts of assault with intent to kill.
- President Donald Trump called the attack “an act of terror” in an address, and the FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
- The West Virginia National Guard members were deployed to D.C. as part of Trump’s monthslong crackdown on crime in the District.
A National Guard member remains in critical condition at a D.C. hospital on Friday after a gunman shot him and a fellow guard member in an ambush in downtown D.C. on Wednesday, authorities say. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died on Thanksgiving at age 20.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, is “fighting for his life,” President Donald Trump said on a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops. He announced that Beckstrom had died of her injuries.
“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her,” Trump said.
The mood was somber outside MedStar Washington Hospital Center early Friday, News4 video shows.
The president called Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.” The White House said he spoke to her parents after his remarks.
Trump used the announcement to say the shooting was a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has deployed National Guard members in part to assist in his administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Trump brandished a print-out of a news photo of Afghan evacuees sitting on the floor of a military plane during the chaotic evacuation from Kabul in 2021 during his remarks. He suggested that the shooter was mentally unstable after the war and departure from Afghanistan.
“He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts,” the president said. “It happens too often with these people.”
The shooter worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan
The suspect charged with the shooting is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29. The suspect had worked in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan, according to two sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, and #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war.
Trump blamed the asylum process in which Afghans who worked with U.S. forces arrived by plane for being ineffective and failing to ensure people were properly vetted.
“We have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country,” Trump said. “For the most part, we don’t want them.”
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon’s brazen act of violence which occurred just blocks from the White House. The presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.
Pirro said that the suspect launched an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. As of Thursday morning, the suspect faced charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, but Pirro suggested the charges would be upgraded if one of the National Guard members died, as happened later on Thursday.
The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the D.C. police force and sent in National Guard troops. The order expired a month later. But the troops have remained in the city, where nearly 2,200 troops currently are assigned, according to the government’s latest update.
The guard members have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and been assigned to pick up trash and guard sports events. The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington following Wednesday’s shooting.
The suspect also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
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