What We Know About the National Guard Shooting in D.C. and the Suspect

Two National Guard members are in critical condition after the attack near the White House on the eve of Thanksgiving. The suspect is a 29-year-old Afghan man.

Two members of the National Guard were left in critical condition after a man shot them blocks from the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect, a 29-year-old man from Afghanistan, was also injured after he opened fire, according to the authorities. The authorities detained him and said he appeared to have acted alone.

The suspect had worked with C.I.A.-backed military units in Afghanistan during the U.S. war there, the agency said on Thursday.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, President Trump called the shooting an act of terror and said the gunman would “pay a very steep price.”

Here’s what we know about the shooting:

The troops were shot near the White House.

The shooting took place around 2:15 p.m. near the entrance to the Farragut West metro station, a few blocks from the White House.

The sound of gunfire terrified some bystanders. Stacey Walters, a nurse, said she was riding in an Uber when she heard the gunfire.

“I wanted to cry,” she said. “I’ve never been so close to something like that, let alone at the holidays.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday that the suspect could face up to life in prison.

The two Guardsmen had come through surgery, she said, but she declined to discuss their current conditions. One had volunteered to work on Thursday, she said, so colleagues could be home with their families for the holiday.

The suspect worked with C.I.A.-backed units and entered the U.S. as a refugee.

The 29-year-old man suspected in the shooting has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, according to people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details publicly.

The shooter worked for multiple U.S. government agencies in Afghanistan, including a C.I.A.-backed military unit in Kandahar, the C.I.A. said on Thursday.

He entered the United States in September 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that allowed Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban takeover to enter America, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The program allowed certain Afghan nationals to stay in the country for two years. It was not a path to permanent immigration status and would require them to find other ways to stay in the country, such as requesting asylum.

Trump ordered 500 more National Guard troops to Washington after the shooting.

The president ordered an additional 500 National Guard troops to Washington D.C. following the shooting.

Mr. Trump has already sent 2,000 National Guard members to the nation’s capital, part of an attempted deployment of thousands of troops to U.S. cities this year in his crackdown on immigration and crime. Federal judges across the country, including in Washington, D.C., have tried to limit his authority to use these troops.

In Washington, D.C., National Guard members have patrolled subway stops and tourist areas and assisted in the city’s intensified immigration and deportation operations.

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