‘My baby girl has passed to glory,’ says father of guard soldier killed in D.C. shooting

Spc. Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia Army National Guard worked for the military police and joined the guard because, a friend said, she saw herself one day in a career upholding the law at the FBI.

She died Thursday evening, at age 20, from injuries suffered in the ambush shooting near the White House on Wednesday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.

Her family spent an anguished Thanksgiving at her side, saying goodbye.

“I’m holding her hand right now,” her father, Gary Beckstrom, said when reached Thursday. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.” That was all he would say.

On Thursday evening, he posted on social media, “My baby girl has passed to glory. If I don’t talk to you don’t be offend this has been a horrible tragedy.”

The other guard member shot in the attack, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, of the West Virginia Air National Guard, remained in critical condition in a hospital Friday, the U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, told Fox News. “We still have hope,” she said.

On Thursday, a man at Wolfe’s family home told a reporter, “All we need right now are prayers for my son.” He declined to say more.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were on patrol just blocks from the White House around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday when, officials say, a man, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, rounded a corner, raised a .357 revolver and immediately opened fire on them.

Other nearby members of the guard subdued Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who was shot during the encounter, officials said. He was expected to be charged with first-degree murder.

Beckstrom, of Summersville, West Virginia, started service in 2023, just out of high school. She was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade of the West Virginia Army National Guard.

Wolfe, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, entered the service in 2019. He was assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard.

Both had been deployed to Washington since August, when President Donald Trump ordered troops to the capital as part of what his administration described as a crackdown on crime.

Beckstrom was a 2023 graduate of Webster County High School, according to a social media post by the West Virginia National Guard. Maj. Gen. Jim Seward, the adjutant general, said the guard would “honor her memory by carrying forward her commitment to service, integrity, and excellence.”

The Webster County Veterans Auxiliary scheduled three nights of vigils for Beckstrom and Wolfe, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “Our hearts are absolutely broken,” the group said in a social media post.

Adam Carr, Beckstrom’s former boyfriend, described her as “caring and tenderhearted.” She enjoyed nature, road trips and being with her family, he said.

“As long as she was with people who cared about her, she was having a good time,” Carr said.

Beckstrom was not initially excited to go to Washington, he said, and once she was there, she talked about encountering people who didn’t want the guard in the capital. But eventually, Carr said, she grew to enjoy the city — going to museums and walking among the memorials, doing things she couldn’t do in West Virginia.

“She didn’t like being away from people, going to strange places, dealing with things she didn’t want to,” he said. “She liked it better at home. She had better times the more she warmed up to it.”

Beckstrom’s social media account offered a wholesome sampling of her cooking habits — making butter and canning hot peppers — and her connection to faith and family. She posted a happy Mother’s Day message in May, and an Easter message in 2023: “He is risen.”

Morrisey said Thursday evening that Beckstrom “served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation.” On Wednesday, the governor had mistakenly said that both of the guard members hurt in the shooting had died.

The governor asked all West Virginians to observe a statewide moment of silence or prayer at 2:15 p.m. Friday to honor Wolfe and Beckstrom. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff to recognize Beckstrom’s death.

A friend of Wolfe’s, Brooke Davison, said they had met in a cornhole league several years ago. The two of them would briefly catch up over FaceTime, but Wolfe never expressed concern for his safety in Washington, she said Thursday. She said he had promised to tell her about his time in the capital when he returned from his mission.

“Andy is easily one of the strongest, determined and God-fearing men I know,” Davison said. “I have no doubt he has the willpower in him to come out on top of this.”

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Wolfe attended Musselman High School and graduated in 2019, Berkeley County Schools, the school district that oversees Musselman High, said in a statement. The high school’s principal, Alicia Riggleman, said that “during his time at Musselman High, he was an active, engaged and high-achieving student who embodied the Applemen spirit, contributing positively to our school community both academically and athletically.”

Wolfe works as a lineman with Frontier Communications and is a member of the Communications Workers of America, Local 2222, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, according to a statement from the union.

Wolfe joined Frontier in January 2023, a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We’re grateful for Andrew’s dedication — to our nation, to West Virginia, and to the communities he helps keep connected,” the spokesperson said. “Our thoughts are with Andrew and his family. All of us at Frontier are rooting for a full recovery.”

On Friday, flurries fell across Martinsburg, a city locked in prayer and grief over the shooting. Mayor Kevin Knowles said the community was hanging red ribbons to show support for Wolfe.

Across the street from the high school, the flags at Jefferson Security Bank flew at half-staff. Amy Mandas, a teller supervisor, said she lowered them Friday morning. “You take a deep breath and pull them down and hope for the best,” said Mandas, 46.

Rob Blair, the Berkeley County sheriff, called Wolfe a “fine young man.” Wolfe’s father, Jason, is one of the county’s patrol sergeants, Blair said.

Cpl. Andrew Peck, of the sheriff’s office, has known Andrew Wolfe for six years. Wolfe — “a good kid” — would come with his father to the sheriff’s office, Peck said. He added that he was hurting for his colleague. “Nobody deserved that, especially before Thanksgiving,” he said.

Lisa Amistadi said she got chills when she found out Wolfe was one of the guard members wounded in the shooting. She had seen him while she was working at Domino’s Pizza in Inwood, West Virginia; he had come in to pick up food over the years. He was courteous and always in his military uniform, she recalled. Amistadi, 51, called the shooting “heartbreaking.” She said she supported the deployment that brought Wolfe to Washington: “I am happy the National Guard is out and trying to protect us,” she said.

William Zitsch, 71, lives in the Martinsburg neighborhood where Wolfe grew up. Zitsch, who does not know Wolfe, said he wasn’t surprised by the shooting: Violence against the guard troops, he said, was inevitable since “people were not happy about” the guard’s deployment. He blamed Trump. “They shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” he said.