Donald Trump has hit out at the suspect arrested after two National Guard soldiers were shot in Washington, D.C., in what the president described as a “monstrous, ambush-style attack.”
The guardsmen from West Virginia were shot by a lone gunman just north of the White House shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
But the motive of the suspect, identified in reports as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains unclear. More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to D.C. in Trump’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump, who has been in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said in an address Wednesday night: “I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”
open image in galleryHere is everything we know about the shooting so far:
Who is the suspected shooter?
The suspect has been identified as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the suspect came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. After the Taliban takeover in 2021, the Biden-era program aimed to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the United States during the Afghanistan war.
Lakanwal worked with the CIA while in Afghanistan, the agency’s director John Ratcliffe revealed to Fox News on Wednesday night, as a “member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”.
“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe added.
A close relative said Lakanwal served in the Afghan Army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces, NBC Newsreported. Sources told the outlet that he was granted asylum earlier this year.
Authorities say the suspect has been living in Washington state, more than 2,600 miles from D.C.
open image in galleryTwo senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News the FBI will initially investigate the shooting as a possible act of terrorism. Lakanwal is reportedly not cooperating with the investigation so far.
Many details about the suspect are still unknown as he’s still in the hospital receiving treatment, Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department, said. His injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening. It is also unclear what type of weapon was used in the shooting.
Trump described Afghanistan as “a hellhole on Earth” in a statement after the shooting.
“He [the suspect] was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021 for those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in,” the president said.
Following the shooting, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced an immediate and indefinite halt to the "processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals" pending a review of security and vetting protocols.
open image in galleryWhat happened during the shooting?
Shots were fired just north of the White House and near the Farragut West Metro Station Wednesday afternoon.
The two wounded soldiers were part of a "high-visibility patrol" around 2.15p.m. E.T. near the corner of 17th and I streets, a few blocks from the White House.
The pair had been patrolling the area when the suspected shooter came around the corner, raised his arm with a gun and fired at the soldiers, Carroll said.
The suspect "ambushed" them, the executive assistant chief said, adding that other National Guard troops subdued the shooter after an exchange of gunfire.
“They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect, after he had been shot, on the ground until law enforcement got there within moments,” he said.
The guardsmen and the suspect were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Building manager Amelia Smith, who works at 17th Street NW and heard the gunfire, told NBC News she heard four shots at first and then “many, many more”.
“I started seeing Secret Service members rushing by, running by, cycling by, and more and more sirens. I wasn’t sure if it was gunshots, but then I thought, OK, no one’s going to be putting off fireworks the day before Thanksgiving. And when I heard the sirens, I was like, this is, this is something serious,” she added.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser described the incident as a “targeted shooting”.
open image in galleryWhat condition are the victims in?
The West Virginia soldiers shot during the incident are Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Both were left fighting for life after the attack and were taken to hospital. As of Thursday they had undergone surgery but were still in critical condition.
In remarks made to service members in a Thanksgiving address, Donald Trump announced that Beckstrom had died from her injuries.
“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,” Trump said.
“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now,” the president said. “She was savagely attacked, she’s dead now.”
Trump said Wolfe, was still “fighting for his life,” adding: “He's a very bad shape, he's fighting for his life and hopefully we'll get better news with respect to him.”
open image in galleryIt comes after Beckstrom’s father toldThe New York Times his daughter had suffered “a mortal wound” and he did not expect her to recover.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting there were conflicting reports about the victims’ conditions.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey had initially wrongly announced that the soldiers had died, before later clarifying.
What have authorities said about the shooting?
Trump told Americans in an impromptu address, “Earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington DC were shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”
“This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity,” the president said.
During his address, Trump called for a reinvestigation into all Afghan refugees who had entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services separately said on X that the processing of all immigration requests of Afghan nationals has been “stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
open image in galleryShawn VanDiver, president of Afghan advocacy group, AfghanEvac, said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic attack in Washington, DC,” and urged people, including elected officials, “not to demonize the Afghan community for the deranged choice” the suspect made.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump has asked him to add 500 more troops to the nation’s capital in response.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful,” Hegseth told reporters.
FBI Director Kash Patelsaid in an X post that the agency is “engaged and assisting” in the investigation into the shooting.
Alex Woodward contributed to this reporting.
