WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. authorities have identified two National Guard soldiers shot and killed in Washington, D.C., in what the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Thursday named 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolf as West Virginia National Guard soldiers shot and killed a day earlier a few blocks from the White House.
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She said both service members had undergone surgery and were in critical condition. They had been deployed to the U.S. capital as part of what President Donald Trump described as a crime-fighting initiative.
“A lone gunman, armed with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, opened fire in an ambush style, without provocation,” Pirro told reporters at a news conference.
The attacker was identified as Rahmanullah Rakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who came to the United States in 2021 amid the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan.
Pirro said Lakhanwal was a resident of Washington state and had been driving across the country before the attack.
He is charged with three counts of assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm. He remains hospitalized with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening, authorities said.
Pirro, a former Fox News host, added that charges could be exacerbated if any National Guard members die from their injuries.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the attack was being investigated as “terrorism” and a search warrant was executed at Lakhanwal’s home.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier told Fox News that the injured were “fighting for their lives.”
“Everyone, please pray today for these two soldiers, these two Guardsmen, these men and women,” she said. “But if something were to happen, I would say right now, and we would do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that man.”
The attack comes amid increased attention to President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and other cities across the country.
President Trump said the deployment was necessary to respond to the high crime rate in the nation’s capital. Critics have denounced the move as an incendiary display of force that is out of step with the needs of the federal district.
A judge ruled last week that President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was illegal, but the decision’s implementation was delayed until Dec. 11.
Following Thursday’s attack, the Trump administration quickly ordered an additional 500 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to add to the approximately 2,200 military personnel already stationed there.
Afghan re-examination
In response to the attack, the Trump administration pledged to “retest all foreign nationals who entered our country from Afghanistan under former President Joe Biden.”
The administration also announced that it would suspend the processing of all “admission applications involving Afghan nationals.”
On Thursday, Trump administration officials remained focused on the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan following an agreement between Trump and the Taliban during the Republican leader’s first term.
Amid the withdrawal, the Biden administration launched Operation Welcoming Allies to quickly relocate Afghans to the United States, including those who have worked with the U.S. military and Western nations in Afghanistan for more than two decades.
Approximately 77,000 Afghans have come to the United States under this program.
On Thursday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that the gunman had been working with the CIA “as part of a partner force” in the Taliban stronghold in Kandahar before coming to the United States.
The attack has sparked fear among displaced Afghans in the United States and those still seeking to leave Afghanistan, many already reeling from the Trump administration’s heavy-handed restrictions on refugees and asylum seekers.
Many Afghans who have worked with U.S. and Western forces are under threat of retaliation from the Taliban government.
In a statement, Sean Vandiver, president of Afghanistan Evac, a humanitarian advocacy group, called on “the media, elected leaders, decision-makers, and other influential people not to demonize Afghan society for the crazy choices this man made.”
Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “The entire Afghan community should not be punished for the actions of one individual.”
“It’s grossly unjust and utter nonsense,” he said. “Cold heads must prevail.”
