What we know about shooting of National Guards in Washington DC

Two members of the National Guard were seriously injured by gunfire just blocks from the White House in Washington DC.

They remain in critical condition and the suspect, an Afghan national, is in custody.

In response to the attack, President Donald Trump announced he would deploy 500 additional troops to the streets of the nation’s capital.

On Wednesday shortly after 2:00 p.m. EST (19:00 GMT), two members of the National Guard, both from West Virginia, were shot at point-blank range near Farragut Square in downtown Washington, DC.

The troopers were conducting a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, an area where many office workers crowd at lunchtime.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately began shooting,” adding that the troopers were “ambushed.”

Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, said it was a targeted attack.

The location of the shooting, just blocks from the White House, required a number of law enforcement officials to quickly rush to the scene to treat the two victims and apprehend the shooter.

The guard members were taken to a hospital and remain in critical condition, authorities said Thursday.

Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida before the US Thanksgiving holiday and not at the White House at that time.

The Department of Homeland Security named the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal and described him as “a foreign criminal from Afghanistan.”

During his arrest, the suspect was shot four times, police sources told CBS News, the BBC’s American news partner.

Mr. Lakanwal is 29 years old and is not cooperating with authorities, officials said.

He would have come to the United States in 2021.

The suspect resided in Washington State with his wife and five children.

Mr. Lakanwal reportedly arrived in the United States in September 2021, as part of a program for Afghans called Operation Allies Welcome that existed under President Joe Biden.

It was during the period following a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

The Congressional Research Service estimates that about 77,000 Afghans entered the United States under special immigration protections in place for about a year after that withdrawal.

Mr. Lakanwal had relationships in Afghanistan with U.S. forces, FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said he was working with the intelligence agency.

Mr. Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and his request was granted earlier this year, an official told CBS.

Following the suspect’s ties to Afghanistan, Trump said the United States “must now reexamine every foreign national who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.”

The president also suspended the processing of all immigration applications from Afghans.

Mr. Lakanwal will be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

He will also be charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The initial charges mean he faces 15 years in prison if convicted.

Just hours after the shooting, Trump released a video speaking from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

He called the shooting an “act of terror” and a “crime against humanity.”

The president called Mr. Lakanwal an “animal” who shot guards “at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps from the White House.”

In response to the shooting, Trump said he would deploy 500 additional National Guardsmen.

There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in the city.

National Guard troops are a reserve force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power because they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.

Trump deployed troops in August to combat what the president called “out of control” crime in the nation’s capital.

The victims are Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24.

They are both uniformed members of the West Virginia National Guard, Pirro said.

“They were in Washington to keep Washington safe,” she said at a news conference Thursday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that Ms. Beckstrom volunteered to work in the nation’s capital over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“She volunteered, like many of these guards, so other people could stay home with their families, but now their families are in hospital rooms with them as they fight for their lives,” she said.

Ms. Beckstrom and Mr. Wolfe remain in critical condition after being shot multiple times. Both left the operating room.