Updated November 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM EST
Two West Virginia National Guard members deployed to Washington, D.C., remain in critical condition after being shot while on patrol just blocks from the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
"Two families are shattered and destroyed and torn apart as the result of the actions of one man," said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. "They've undergone surgery and we pray for their well being."
At a press conference Thursday morning, Pirro identified the National Guard soldiers as Sarah Beckstrom, age 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24.
The alleged gunman 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 Smith and Wesson revolver in a "targeted attack" to shoot the two Guard members. Both remain hospitalized in critical condition. "This was just not an attack. It was a direct challenge to law and order in our capital," Pirro said.
She said the alleged gunman will be charged with terrorism and she will seek life in prison — or the death penalty if either soldier dies. The suspect is also in the hospital.
FBI Director Kash Patel said during the press conference that officials are conducting a "coast-to-coast" investigation with search warrants being executed at the suspect's home in Bellingham, Wash., and also in San Diego. He indicated inquiries are also being carried out overseas.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in an emailed statement Thursday that the shooter involved in the attack, who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, was admitted into the U.S. "due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA."
The attack comes as President Trump has deployed the National Guard to several cities around the country, including the nation's capital in recent months — a pattern that has been controversial, and challenged in the courts.
Here's what we know so far:
Officials say it was a "targeted" attack
The shooting occurred around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Jeffrey Carroll, the executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Carroll said the gunman came around a corner and opened fire at the Guard members while they were on patrol.
Nearby Guard members then subdued the gunman, who was shot, and taken into custody. Police said it wasn't immediately clear who shot the gunman.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called it a "targeted" attack.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen ... is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price." The president was in Florida at the time of the shooting.
In an interview with Fox News Thursday, Bondi said one of the Guard members — a "young woman" — had volunteered to be in Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday. She identified the other Guard member as male. She said both "were fighting for their lives."
Suspected shooter came to the U.S. from Afghanistan
In a video address posted to the White House social media, Trump said that the shooter came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021.
The Department of Homeland Security later identified the shooter as Lakamal, and said he came to the U.S. as part of a Biden administration program called Operation Allies Welcome that allowed thousands of Afghans to enter the country after the Taliban retook power of Afghanistan in 2021. Those people came on two-year grants of parole, then later had to apply for other ways to stay in the country permanently, like asylum, and go through rigorous screening.
In his statement, the CIA's Ratcliffe said: "In the wake of the disastrous Biden Withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation."
He added: "This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here. Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden Administration's catastrophic failures."
Roughly 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Some of them have since received green cards or even U.S. citizenship, but many have more tenuous legal status, such as humanitarian parole.
A motive for the shooting is not yet known.
In the video posted on Wednesday, Trump called the attack "an act of terror" and reiterated anti-immigrant rhetoric.
"We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country," he said.
Several hours later, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services announced it had stopped processing immigration applications from Afghan nationals "pending further review of security and vetting protocols."
The move will almost certainly affect a number of Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or NATO forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan, and have largely been 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 considering "life in prison with terrorism charges." She said the investigation into the Wednesday's shooting was active and open.
Trump has ordered hundreds more troops to D.C.
In his video statement, Trump doubled down on his deployment of National Guard troops to the nation's capital, saying he was ordering an additional 500 troops to the city. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later confirmed the request.
More than 2,000 Guard troops have been stationed in D.C. from several states, including West Virginia, since August, when Trump ordered the deployment over concerns about the city's crime rate.
The deployment was part of a pattern since this summer of Trump deploying the National Guard to Democratic-led cities around the country, often against the wishes of local governors and authorities. In D.C., the president has the unique authority to do so because of the city's entwined relationship with the federal government.
The deployments have been very controversial, and have faced a litany of legal battles, all the way up to the Supreme Court. In places like Portland, Ore., or Chicago, federal judges almost immediately intervened and blocked the deployments. Those are still tied up in legal battles.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that the use of troops in D.C. was unlawful and ordered an end to the deployment — but that preliminary injunction had yet to take effect in order to give the Trump administration time to appeal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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