What we know about the shooting of National Guard troops

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NATHAN HOWARD / REUTERS

Pictures of National Guard members Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom, who were shot Wednesday in Washington D.C., are displayed at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro and other authorities today.

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ERIC LEE / NEW YORK TIMES

From left, FBI Director Kash Patel and Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard, the interim commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, stand next to photos of West Virginia National Guard soldiers Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom and shooting suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal during a news conference in Washington Thursday.

Two National Guard soldiers were grievously wounded when a man shot them blocks from the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

National Guard members Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Beckstrom, 20, remained in critical condition Thursday after undergoing surgery, officials said.

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

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

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, President Donald 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:

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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.

There, officials said, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man, opened fire with a .357 revolver. He hit two uniformed National Guard members, Wolfe, 24 and Beckstrom, 20, both of the West Virginia National Guard, they said.

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 would be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill but that if either of the guard members did not survive, he would be charged with first-degree murder. He could face up to life in prison, Bondi said.

One of the guard members had volunteered to work on Thursday, she said, so others could be home with their families for the holiday.

Gary Beckstrom, the father of Sarah Beckstrom, said his daughter was gravely wounded. “I’m holding her hand right now,” Beckstrom said when reached by telephone. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”

In Inwood, West Virginia, at the home of Andrew Wolfe, a man who answered the door said: “All we need right now are prayers for my son.” He declined to speak further.

>> The suspect worked with CIA-backed units and entered the U.S. as a refugee.

Officials identified Lakanwal as the suspect in the shooting. He was injured after being shot by other members of the National Guard, and remained in the hospital, where he was being heavily guarded, said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

Lakanwal worked for multiple U.S. government agencies in Afghanistan, including a CIA-backed military unit in Kandahar, the CIA said 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 the U.S., 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.

Lakanwal received asylum from the U.S. government in April, according to three people with knowledge of the case who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Following news of the suspect’s status, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post on social media that he was ordering a review of “every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”

The countries include the 19 countries on which Trump placed a travel ban this year, and includes Afghanistan.

At the time of the shooting, the suspect was living in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and several children, Pirro said at the news conference. He had driven across the country, she said, with the intention of committing an attack in the nation’s capital.

>> 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., after the shooting.

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

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company

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