WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — One of two West Virginia National Guard members shot in an ambush in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday has died, and the second is “fighting for his life,” President Donald Trump said Thursday.
During an evening appearance at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to honor service members, Trump said Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died moments before.
“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down on us right now. Her parents are with her. This just happened,” Trump said.
Beckstrom, of Summersville, West Virginia, enlisted in her state’s National Guard in June 2023 and served as a military police soldier with the 863rd Military Police Company, officials said in a subsequent announcement.
“This is a devastating loss to our National Guard family,” said Col. Larry Doane, Joint Task Force District of Columbia commander, in a statement. “Spc. Sarah Beckstrom came to the District from West Virginia to make our nation’s capital safe and beautiful. She is a hero and we mourn her passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones and with the West Virginia National Guard.”
Beckstrom’s body was transferred from MedStar Washington Hospital Center to the medical examiner’s office, Reuters reported.
Her wounded colleague, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life,” Trump said Thursday.
The two Guard members were shot the day before Thanksgiving, blocks from the White House, in what the president called an “act of terror.”
The suspect was also shot and is in critical condition. He has been identified as an Afghan national who once served alongside U.S. Special Forces.
Investigators were continuing to examine the suspect’s background Thursday as they work to determine a motive.
Investigation into suspect a ‘coast to coast’ operation: FBI director
Investigators have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Lakanwal drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The suspect currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said. Before Beckstrom’s death was reported, she said, “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.”
Regarding the suspect’s motive, Pirro said, “It’s too soon to say.”
FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday said law enforcement officials across the nation were helping gather information about Lakanwal.
Patel said authorities were interviewing witnesses and executing search warrants in D.C. and in multiple locations on the West Coast.
He said investigators had interviewed everyone in the suspect’s household in Bellingham, Washington, where he lived with his wife and children.
Lakanwal previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” a CIA spokesperson confirmed Thursday to NewsNation.
He arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that helped evacuate and resettle tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal.
In total, 76,000 Afghans came to the U.S. through the program — many of them worked alongside U.S. troops as translators and interpreters. Lakanwal was granted asylum in April under the Trump administration.
Investigators described Wednesday’s attack as an ambush-style, targeted shooting. Lakanwai is accused of rounding a corner near a metro station and immediately opening fire with a handgun, critically injuring the guardsmen. Other troops quickly intervened and stopped the suspect, authorities said.
Patel criticized the Biden administration for what he called improper vetting of Lakanwal.
However, former FBI Special Agent Tracy Walder told “NewsNation Live” on Thursday she disagrees, noting the suspect would’ve undergone extensive checks before being allowed to work alongside the CIA.
Trump vows crackdown after guardsmen shot
The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House near a metro station and comes as the presence of the troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has been a flashpoint issue for months.
Trump’s crackdown on crime and immigration has fueled court fights and a broader public policy debate about the administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
The administration has now ordered 500 more National Guard members to D.C. at Trump’s request, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Nearly 2,200 troops are currently assigned to the joint task force operating in the city, according to the government’s latest update.
In a video from Mar-a-Lago posted late Wednesday, Trump vowed to crack down on immigration from Afghanistan after the shooting suspect was identified.
“We’re not going to put up with these kinds of assaults on law and order by people who shouldn’t even be in our country,” he said. “We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country. If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”
Trump also said he wants the suspect to face the “steepest possible price.”
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued an immediate suspension of immigration applications for Afghan nationals.
In a statement, the agency said, “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”