2 National Guardsmen shot, critically wounded near WH

Post Reply New Topic

Two National Guard members were shot in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, just one day before Thanksgiving, in what officials described as a "targeted" attack.

The guard members are in critical condition, authorities said. They were shot in the head, according to a U.S. official and a senior official directly briefed on the investigation.

The suspect was also shot and taken to a hospital. He has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, four senior law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation said.

National Guard members have been based in Washington since August following President Donald Trump's highly contested directive to curb crime in the nation's capital.

The shooting
The shooting happened at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station in the area of 17th and High streets NW, just a few minutes’ walk from the White House.

At the time, National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols,” said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The two National Guard members were "ambushed" by a person who "came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members," Carroll said at a news conference.

The suspect was shot “during the interaction,” Carroll said, though it's not clear who shot him, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Other National Guard members were in the area and intervened by holding the suspect down after he had been shot until he was taken into custody.

Officials said there no other suspects.

Carroll said both guard members are being treated at a local hospital. Flight tracking data showed a medical helicopter landed on the National Mall, then flew to MedStar Washington Hospital Center following the shooting.

Mayor Muriel Bowser called the shooting “targeted,” saying the suspect who was taken into custody “appeared to target these guardsmen.”

What we know about the victims
The two National Guard members were from the West Virginia National Guard.

Around 2,100 National Guard troops were serving in Washington as of Wednesday morning, including 181 West Virginia National Guard members, the joint task force operating in the city said.

What we know about the suspect
Lakanwal, the man law enforcement sources said has been identified as the suspect, is 29, and his last known location was in Bellingham, Washington, the four senior law enforcement sources told NBC News.

He has been initially identified as an Afghan national who used a handgun, according to two senior U.S. law enforcement officials.

What is the status of the investigation?
FBI Director Kash Patel called the attack "a horrendous act of violence."

He promised at a news conference Wednesday that the perpetrator "will be brought to justice" and said the matter will be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

The FBI will initially investigate the shooting as possible act of terrorism, two senior U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Suspected shooter is Afghan man who served alongside U.S. Special Forces, relative says
A close relative of the suspected shooter of two National Guard members said that the suspect served alongside U.S. Special Forces troops in Afghanistan before coming to the U.S.

The relative said Rahmanullah Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 after serving in the Afghan Army for 10 years, alongside U.S. Special Forces troops. He was stationed at a base in Kandahar for part of that time, the relative said.

He came to the U.S. after the Taliban took over and eventually settled in Washington state, the relative said.

This close relative served with Lakanwal, supporting U.S. troops, and was injured during his time in uniform.

“We were the ones that were targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan,” the relative said. “I cannot believe it that he might do this,” he said.

Lakanwal grew up in Khost Province, the relative said.

The relative said Lakanwal has a wife and five boys, but this relative said has not spoken with Lakanwal in several months.

“I don’t know what happened,” the relative said with a shaky voice. “I need your help to know why this happened,” he said, breaking down in tears.

Trump calls to ‘re-examine’ people who came to U.S. from Afghanistan during Biden administration
Trump tonight called for officials to “re-examine” people who came to the United States from Afghanistan during the Biden administration.

This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Trump said.

Trump then accused the Biden administration of allowing people from other nations into the United States, and he attacked those from Somalia who are living in Minnesota.

Trump said: “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.

“And we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said.

Shooting shouldn't be used to 'attack Afghan families,' advocacy group says
An Afghan advocacy group condemned the attack on the National Guard members and said it should not be used to “isolate or harm” Afghans who have resettled in the U.S.

“We reject and condemn anyone who uses, or seeks to use, violence, and we stand with every American who is horrified and saddened by this crime,” Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego-based group AfghanEvac, said in a statement, adding that the perpetrator should face “full accountability and prosecution under the law.”

VanDiver noted that Afghan immigrants and wartime allies who resettle in the U.S. undergo extensive security vetting, and that “this individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community.”

“Those who would twist this moment to attack Afghan families aren’t seeking safety or justice — they’re exploiting division and endangering all of us,” he said.

One of the two National Guard members shot in a “targeted” ambush shooting Wednesday afternoon blocks from the White House has died, President Donald Trump said Thursday evening.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds, Trump said during a Thanksgiving Day phone call with U.S. troops.

The president said he received news of the death just before speaking.

“I heard that Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about — highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023 outstanding in every way — she’s just passed away, she’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now,” Trump said.

The other National Guard member was identified as Andrew Wolfe, who Trump said was “fighting for his life” and “in very bad shape.”

President Donald Trump has said he will "permanently pause" all immigration from what he called "third world countries" and demanded a program of "reverse migration" as he intensified his rhetoric after the National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C.

Trump offered few details as he disparaged and vowed to remove millions of migrants in the U.S., in a lengthy social media post late on Thanksgiving that came hours after he confirmed the death of National Guard troop Sarah Beckstrom, 20, in the shooting.

"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

It was not clear exactly which countries he was referring to, with the phrasing used in the past to refer to poorer nations. The Department of Homeland Security referred a reporter from the Reuters news agency to the 19 countries listed in a travel ban in June, mainly in Africa and the Middle East.

The comments drew swift criticism from two U.N. agencies, which on Friday urged the U.S. to continue to accept asylum seekers.

The president also threatened to "end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our country" and to "denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic security."

In remarks that will cause alarm among migrant advocacy and civil liberties groups, Trump said the government would deport any foreign national who was "non-compatible with Western Civilization."

He added: "Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."

The Trump administration also said Thursday that the government would reexamine the status of Green Card holders from 19 countries "of concern," including Afghanistan.

In a subsequent post, Trump said that "hundreds of thousands" of Somali migrants were "completely taking over the once great state of Minnesota."

Trump has previously threatened action against Somalis and last week said he would end temporary protective status — which prevents deportations to dangerous countries — for Somali migrants in Minnesota, many of whom have fled a brutal civil war in the east African country.

It's unclear how many people this would affect but a report made for Congress in August put the number of people covered by the program nationally at 705. The president also attacked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as "ret*d" and said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, who was born in Somalia, "probably came into the U.S.A. illegally" and is from a "decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation."

Trump's threats, if enacted by legislation or executive orders, are likely to be challenged in the courts. In his first term, Trump banned people from several majority-Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa from entering the U.S. This was challenged but eventually the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the ban's legality.

Migrant advocacy groups have called for calm and warned against using the D.C. attack to call for a wider crackdown on immigration or to remove the rights of Afghan residents.

"Using this horrific attack as an excuse to smear and punish every Afghan, every refugee, or every immigrant rips at something very basic in our Constitution and many faiths: the idea that guilt is personal, not inherited or collective," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement early Friday.

U.N. human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told a Geneva press briefing: “They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process.”

U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Eujin Byun said: “When people who need protection arrive in their territory, they have to have a due process of asylum. And then they have to have access to territory,” she said, adding that the overwhelming majority of refugees are law-abiding members of the host community.

The term "third world" originated in the Cold War era to describe a country that wasn't aligned with the western NATO alliance or the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. This later evolved into shorthand for describing economically underdeveloped nations, particularly ones with high levels of poverty.

The term has been used to describe several African nations, but until the late 20th century was also attached to descriptions of China.

Economists and health experts have for years said the phrase is inaccurate, derogatory and outdated. The World Bank and other global institutions no longer use the phrase and some have suggested also avoiding its successor, "developing countries."

Authorities are continuing to work to find a motive of an Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last week.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is facing charges including first-degree murder following the shooting in Washington, D.C. that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both of the West Virginia National Guard. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said the suspect had driven from Washington state to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.

The Associated Press reported that Lakanwal had been unraveling in the years since he came to the U.S. after previously working with U.S forces in Afghanistan, struggling to assimilate or hold down a steady job. The report cited emails sent by a community member, revealing concerns about Lakanwal’s mental health and behavior long before Wednesday’s shooting.

Why It Matters
Following the shooting, the Trump administration has reined in legal immigration, halting all asylum decisions and pausing the issuing of visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.
The shooting has also highlighted ongoing security concerns in Washington, D.C. after President Donald Trump deployed National Guard members to reduce crime. The Trump administration has since ordered an additional 500 members to the nation’s capital.

What To Know
Lakanwal had worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan, including with the CIA, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement.

He entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was granted it in April this year by the Trump administration, according to #AfghanEvac, a group that assists with resettlement of Afghans who helped U.S. forces in their country. Lakanwal resettled in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and their five young sons.

The program has been criticized by Trump and other Republicans over what they argue are gaps in the screening process and the speed of admissions.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that officials believe Lakanwal “was radicalized since he’s been here in this country.”

She said: “We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members.” Noem did not provide any further information to support the claim.

The AP reported that the unnamed community member had sent two emails to the U.S.

Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit group that provides services to refugees, fearing that Lakanwal was becoming suicidal.

The emails said he was alternating between long bouts of time in isolation and sudden long cross-country drives.

“Rahmanullah has not been functional as a person, father and provider since March of last year, 03/2023. He quit his job that month, and his behavior has changed greatly,” the person wrote in a January 2024 email.

He sometimes spent weeks in his “darkened room, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife or older kids,” it added.

The community member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share undisclosed details while cooperating with the FBI in its investigation, told the AP in an interview that they worried Lakanwal was so depressed he would hurt himself, but did not see any signs that he would be violent towards another person.

The National Guard member hospitalized in critical condition after a fellow guard member was fatally shot near the White House is improving, West Virginia's governor said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, of the West Virginia Air National Guard, has shown signs of improvement, including responding to a nurse's request that he display thumbs-up, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said at a news conference.

"We were told that he also wiggled his toes," he said. "So we take that as a positive sign."

On Monday, Morrisey described Wolfe, who is from Martinsburg, as being in serious condition but cautioned against using his update as a definitive medical evaluation. "I'm not the doctor," he said.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is accused in the deadly attack near the White House. Lakanwal, an Afghan national who worked to support U.S. troops in Afghanistan, immigrated to the United States in 2021, under President Joe Biden, and was granted asylum during Trump's second term.

Lakanwal, who was injured, remained hospitalized, officials said.