Here’s what we know about the shooting of 2 National Guard members in D.C. : NPR

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro speaks to the press Thursday regarding the investigation into the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard. We look at Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (left to right), DC Deputy Police Chief Jeffery Carroll, and FBI Director Kash Patel.

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Two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C., remain in critical condition after being shot while patrolling just blocks from the White House Wednesday afternoon.

“Two families are broken, destroyed and torn apart as a result of the actions of one man,” said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. “They have undergone surgery and we are praying for their well-being.”

At a news conference Thursday morning, Pirro identified the National Guard soldiers as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe.

The suspected shooter drove across the country from his home in Washington state, Pirro said.

Pirro said the suspect, identified as Afghan national Rahmanuallah Lakamal, used a .357-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver in a “targeted attack” to shoot the two Guard members. Both remain hospitalized in critical condition. “It was simply not an attack. It was a direct challenge to public order in our capital,” Pirro said.

She said the suspected shooter would be charged with terrorism and she would face life in prison – or the death penalty if one of the soldiers died. The suspect is also hospitalized.

FBI Director Kash Patel said at the news conference that officials were conducting a “coast to coast” investigation with search warrants executed at the suspect’s home in Bellingham, Washington, as well as San Diego. He said investigations were also being carried out abroad.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in an emailed statement Thursday that the shooter involved in the attack, who arrived in the United States from Afghanistan in 2021, was admitted to the United States “because of his prior work with the U.S. government, including the CIA.”

The attack comes as President Trump has deployed the National Guard to several cities across the country, including the nation’s capital, in recent months — a trend that has been controversial and challenged in court.

Here’s what we know so far:

Authorities say it was a “targeted” attack.

The shooting happened around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to Jeffery Carroll, executive deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Carroll said the shooter came around a street corner and opened fire on Guard members as they were patrolling.

Nearby Guard members then subdued the shooter, who was shot and taken into custody. Police said it was not immediately clear who shot the shooter.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called it a “targeted” attack.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen… is also seriously injured, but regardless, it will pay a very high price.” The president was in Florida at the time of the shooting.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Bondi said one of the Guard members – a “young lady” – had volunteered to be in Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday. She identified the other Guard member as a man. She said both were “fighting for their lives”.

National Guard members respond Wednesday to the shooting of two West Virginia Guard members near the White House.

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Suspected shooter arrived in US from Afghanistan

In a video speech posted on White House social media, Trump said the shooter came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security later identified the shooter as Lakamal and said he came to the United States as part of a Biden administration program called Operation Allies Welcome that allowed thousands of Afghans to enter the country after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021. These people arrived on two years’ parole and then had to apply for other ways to stay in the country permanently, such as asylum, and go through rigorous control.

In his statement, the CIA’s Ratcliffe said: “Following Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified the suspected shooter’s transfer to the United States in September 2021 because of his prior work with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly after the chaotic evacuation.

He added: “This individual – and so many others – should never have been allowed to come here. Our citizens and our military deserve far better than to endure the continued fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures. »

About 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees arrived in the United States after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Some of them have since received a green card or even U.S. citizenship, but many have a more precarious legal status, such as humanitarian parole.

The motive for the shooting is not yet known.

In the video released Wednesday, Trump called the attack an “act of terror” and reiterated his anti-immigration rhetoric.

“We must now re-examine every foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take every step necessary to ensure the expulsion of any foreigner from any country who does not belong here or who will benefit our country,” he said.

Hours later, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it had stopped processing immigration applications from Afghan nationals “pending further review of security and screening protocols.”

The move will almost certainly affect a number of Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or NATO forces during Afghanistan’s 20-year war, and who were largely left in limbo after the Trump administration curbed immigration.

Bondi told Fox News that charges against the shooter would “depend on what happens” to the Guard members, but said that at a minimum, officials were looking at “life in prison with terrorism charges.” She said the investigation into Wednesday’s shooting is active and open.

Law enforcement officers secured the scene after two National Guard members were shot and killed Wednesday in downtown Washington, DC.

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Trump sent hundreds of additional troops to Washington

In his video statement, Trump doubled down on his deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, saying he was ordering 500 additional troops to be sent to the city. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later confirmed the request.

More than 2,000 Guard troops have been stationed in Washington from several states, including West Virginia, since August, when Trump ordered their deployment due to concerns about the city’s crime rate.

The deployment was part of a trend since this summer, where Trump deployed the National Guard to Democratic-run cities across the country, often against the wishes of governors and local officials. In Washington, D.C., the president has the unique authority to do this because of the city’s close relationship with the federal government.

The deployments were highly controversial and resulted in numerous legal battles, all the way to the Supreme Court. In places like Portland, Oregon, or Chicago, federal judges almost immediately stepped in and blocked the deployments. These are still linked by legal battles.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the use of troops in Washington was illegal and ordered an end to the deployment — but that preliminary injunction had not yet taken effect in order to give the Trump administration time to appeal.

This is a developing story and will be updated.