The grieving father of one of the two National Guard soldiers shot in an ambush in Washington, D.C., said his daughter suffered a “mortal wound” in the senseless attack — sadly, his words proved true.
President Donald Trump announced the passing of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, during a Thanksgiving evening address.
“She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now,” Trump said.
The other victim, Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, also a member of the West Virginia National Guard, is listed in critical condition, with a man answering the phone at his home telling the Times, “prayers for my son.”
Authorities say the suspected 29-year-old shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, launched an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver on Wednesday. He allegedly drove across the country from his US home in Bellingham, Washington — a nearly 3,000-mile, 40-hour haul — to arrive in D.C. by Wednesday afternoon, the New York Post reported.
Lakanwal, an Afghan national who worked with the CIA in his native country and immigrated to the U.S. in 2021, was lying in wait on a corner of the Farragut West Metro entrance, just two blocks from the White House, by about 2 p.m. — where two armed National Guard troops were standing patrol.
The attack happened at 17th and I streets NW — next to Farragut Square Park. A National Guard major nearby who heard the shots jumped the suspected shooter, taking him down with just a pocket knife, authorities said.
The president called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.
“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said authorities have been in “constant contact” with the families of the wounded servicemembers and have provided them with “every resource needed during this difficult time.”
Specialist Beckstrom was shot in the head and chest; Sgt. Wolfe was shot with his partner’s weapon, authorities said.
A fourth National Guardsman was nearby and had run towards the fray with a pistol drawn, and shot Lakanwal in the buttocks and leg.
The suspect currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were.
The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said, adding: “We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.”
Suspect worked with CIA during Afghanistan War
A resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin said Lakanwal was originally from the province and that he and his brother had worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar. A former official from the unit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader.
The cousin spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said Lakanwal had started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012, and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist.
Kandahar is in the Taliban heartland of the country. It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war.
Zero Units were paramilitary units manned by Afghans but backed by the CIA and also served in front-line fighting with CIA paramilitary officers. Activists had attributed abuses to the units. They played a key role in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country, providing security around Kabul International Airport as the Americans and others fell back during the Taliban offensive that seized the country.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that Lakanwal’s relationship with the U.S. government “ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation” of U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said. Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.
The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over allegations of gaps in the vetting process, even as advocates say there was extensive vetting and the program offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.
Lakanwal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.
Attack being investigated as terrorist act
The FBI’s Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has previously questioned the effectiveness of using the National Guard to enforce city laws. Last week, a federal judge ordered an end to the deployment there, but the judge also paused her order for 21 days to allow the administration to remove the troops or appeal.
On Thursday, Bowser interpreted the shooting as a direct assault on America itself, rather than specifically on Trump’s policies.
“Somebody drove across the country and came to Washington, D.C., to attack America,” Bowser said. “That person will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
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