National Guard members ‘critically’ injured in Washington DC shooting named | World | News
The two National Guard members shot in Washington, DC, have been identified as 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. The guard members were hospitalised in critical condition after Wednesday’s shooting, Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia said on Thursday during a briefing.
She added: “They are currently in critical condition. They have undergone surgery.” Pirro said that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, allegedly drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. She also said he resided in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children.
The suspect, an Afghan national, 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, 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.”
The 29-year-old suspect, who remains in custody, entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country and the return to power of the Taliban, officials said.
The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the US, many of whom had worked alongside US troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
Wednesday night, in a video message released on social media, President Donald Trump 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.”
