National Guard Member Dies, Other in Critical Condition After Shooting: What to Know

One West Virginia National Guard member deployed to Washington, D.C., has died and another remains in critical condition after both were shot near the White House on Wednesday in what President Donald Trump has called a “terrorist” attack.

The shooting happened at around 2:15 p.m., while National Guard members were conducting “high visibility patrols,” Metropolitan Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said in a press conference. The suspect appeared to be a “lone gunman,” Carroll said. He was taken into custody after an exchange of gunfire, although Carroll said it was unclear whether he was shot by one of the guard members or another law enforcement officer responding to the scene. The suspect, who was apprehended, was transported to a hospital, as were the injured National Guard members.

“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” Trump, who was at his Mar-a-Lago beach club in Florida at the time, posted on Truth Social.

Trump, who controversially mobilized more than 2,000 National Guard members to the nation’s capital since August in an effort to combat crime and “beautify” the city, ordered an additional 500 National Guard members to be deployed to D.C. since the shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced. “We will never back down. We will secure our capital,” Hegseth said.

Later, in a video address, Trump called the shooting “a monstrous, ambush-style attack” and “an act of terror.” He hailed the mission of the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. and reiterated that the shooter would pay “the steepest possible price.”

“As we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we are also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve,” Trump added, before identifying the shooter as an Afghan national who came to the U.S. during President Joe Biden’s Administration and using the attack to promote his anti-immigration platform.

“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. “If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”

Read More: ‘Act of Terror’: Trump Condemns D.C. Shooting and Vows Immigration Crackdown

Here’s what we know about the shooting so far.

What happened?

The incident occurred in the area of 17th and I Street Northwest, Carroll said, which is roughly two blocks from the White House. Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately” fired at the patrolling National Guard members.

After hearing gunfire, other National Guard members intervened and eventually held down the suspect, whom Carroll said was shot “during the interaction,” though it remained unclear by whom. Sources told CBS News that the suspect was shot four times. In photos and videos on social media, Secret Service officers could also be seen responding to the scene, and other law enforcement in the area soon arrived to assist in the incident, Carroll said.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll posted late on Wednesday that he visited the two Guardsmen in the hospital. “My heart breaks for them, their families, and those impacted by the horrific attack in our Nation’s capital,” Driscoll wrote.

Who are the victims?

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on Thursday morning identified the victims as Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20. Beckstrom died after being in critical condition, Trump said Thursday. Wolfe remains in critical condition.

“As you know, the other young man is fighting for his life,” Trump said on a call with servicemembers. “He’s in very bad shape. He’s fighting for his life, and hopefully we’ll get better news with respect to him.”

The two had been working in D.C. since August, according to the West Virginia National Guard. The state’s governor Patrick Morrisey, in a video message posted on X Wednesday, condemned the shooting as “an act of unspeakable violence.”

Andrew Wolfe

Wolfe hails from the West Virginia city of Martinsburg and entered service on Feb. 5, 2019. The Associated Press reported that Wolfe was a graduate of Musselman High School, citing a spokesperson for Berkeley County Schools in the state. School principal Alicia Riggleman told the AP that Wolfe was “an active, engaged, and high-achieving student who embodied the Applemen spirit, contributing positively to our school community both academically and athletically.”

“All we need right now are prayers for my son,” a man at Wolfe’s family home said, per the New York Times.

A friend, who said she met Wolfe at a cornhole league several years back and kept in touch over FaceTime, described Wolfe to the Times as “one of the strongest, determined and God-fearing men I know.”

Sarah Beckstrom

Beckstrom, a resident of Summersville who was originally from Webster Springs, enlisted in the state’s National Guard on June 26, 2023.

According to the state’s National Guard statement honoring her, Beckstrom was a 2023 graduate of Webster County High School and had volunteered to serve in D.C. to help “ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital.” The statement added that Beckstrom served “with distinction” as a military police officer and that she “exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism.”

A former boyfriend described Beckstrom to the Times as “caring and tenderhearted” and said that she joined the National Guard in hopes of achieving a career in the FBI. He added that Beckstrom was at first unenthusiastic about being deployed to D.C., and that she spoke to him about how the Guard’s presence felt unwelcome in the capital, but she eventually enjoyed her time there.

Who is the suspect?

Law enforcement officials have identified the suspect to the AP and other outlets as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who immigrated to the U.S. in 2021 and was granted asylum this year. Officials told CNN that the suspect was identified by running his fingerprints, although they are still seeking additional confirmation.

“At this point we have no other suspects,” Carroll said on Wednesday.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal had worked with a partner force in Afghanistan to fight against the Taliban, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday. Ratcliffe told Fox News that Lakanwal had worked with many U.S. government entities, including the CIA. Patel said the FBI is investigating those links.

A former military commander who had served alongside Lakanwal told the BBC that Lakanwal had been a GPS tracker specialist for Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force, one of several CIA-backed so-called “Zero Units” during the war in Afghanistan. The unit later operated for the Afghan intelligence department.

A relative, speaking to NBC, said Lakanwal served in the Afghan army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces troops, and was stationed at a base in Kandahar for a portion of his time in service. The relative said the suspect grew up in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, and was living in Bellingham, Wash., along with his wife and five children.

The relative also said that he and Lakanwal haven’t spoken in a while, recalling that the suspect had been working for Amazon and Amazon Flex during their last conversation. Amazon told TIME that Lakanwal was not an employee of Amazon but worked as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex. The company said Lakanwal had not been active of late.

“I cannot believe it that he might do this,” the relative told NBC.

The suspect sustained gunshot wounds that are not believed to be life-threatening, a law enforcement official told the AP.

Officials believe the suspect used a handgun, which investigators have recovered, officials told CNN. The officials said they are still determining how and when the suspect obtained the gun. The sale of firearms to people who are not citizens or legal permanent residents is restricted by federal law. Washington state also has strict gun laws, including background checks on all sales and transfers.

Pirro, in a press conference Thursday before confirmation of Beckstrom’s death, said Lakanwal would face three counts of assault with the intent to kill and a charge of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, but she warned that he would be charged with murder in the first degree if either of the guardsmen died from their injuries.

The FBI is also investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism, Patel said

How has it been politicized?

In his video address Wednesday night, Trump said that the Department of Homeland Security is “confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth.”

“He was flown in by the Biden Administration in September 2021 on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about,” Trump said, referring to the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan after the U.S.’s withdrawal from the country. “Nobody knew who was coming in. Nobody knew anything about it. His status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden, a disastrous President, the worst in the history of our country. This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation. The last Administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world, from places that you don’t want to even know about. No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in a post on X, specified that Lakanwal entered the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program that granted two-year paroles to vulnerable Afghan nationals on a case-by-case basis.

Ratcliffe claimed in the interview with Fox News that the Biden Administration “justified bringing” Lakanwal to the U.S. because of his prior work with U.S. government entities.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R, Ky.) said in a post on X that he was one of 16 Republicans to vote against the Biden-era Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs Act (ALLIES) Act, which eased entry requirements and increased the number of visas for Afghans fleeing the Taliban. “The news probably won’t tell you this: the U.S. House of Representatives voted to relax vetting and increase visas for Afghan nationals seeking to enter the United States during the Biden administration, but I voted no,” Massie wrote. The bill passed by an overwhelming and bipartisan 407-16 vote in the House in July 2021, but it stalled in the Senate.

“I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees. Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment,” Vance posted on X.

“We will first bring the shooter to justice, and then we must redouble our efforts to deport people with no right to be in our country,” he added.

Others on the right blamed, without evidence, Islam for the attack. Rep. Andy Biggs (R, Ariz.) said in a post on X, “Islam is incompatible with American values.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R, Ala.) posted, “We must IMMEDIATELY BAN all ISLAM immigrants and DEPORT every single Islamist who is living among us just waiting to attack.”

The Trump Administration said Thursday that it would review the immigration status of every permanent resident or green card holder from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

“I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Joseph Edlow, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted on X.

When asked which countries would be affected, USCIS referred news outlets to Trump’s June 4 proclamation, “Restricting the entry of foreign nationals to protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.”

The proclamation banned the entry of almost all nationals from Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It also partially restricts and limits the entry of nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals has also been “stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” USCIS said in a Wednesday post. That comes after the Trump Administration having already moved to reinterview refugees admitted under the Biden Administration, according to an internal memo obtained by news outlets earlier this week.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to resettling Afghan people has called on the public to exercise discretion and “not to demonize the Afghan community for the deranged choice this person made.”

“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 AfghanEvac, said in a statement. “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.”