wo West Virginia National Guard members were shot near the White House in what officials called a “targeted attack” on Wednesday, with the suspect, an Afghan national, taken into custody.
Both West Virginia Guardsmen are hospitalized in critical condition, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a press conference. The governor of West Virginia prematurely said they had been killed in a social media post on Wednesday afternoon.
President Trump said Wednesday night his administration would review the cases of individuals from Afghanistan who entered the United States during the Biden administration, while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced immigration from Afghanistan would be halted.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said 500 additional National Guard troops would be deployed to the capital in response to the attack.
What we know about the victims
At around 2:15 p.m., the two Guardsmen were shot near the Farragut Square Metro Station in the area of 17th and High streets NW, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) stated. MPD officers responded to shooting shortly after.
National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols” before the two Guardsmen were “ambushed” as a person “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm” and shot them, Jeffrey Carroll, executive assistant chief of the MPD, said at a press conference.
Both Guardsmen were taken to a nearby hospital.
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After the suspect was shot, other National Guard members nearby held him down before he was taken into custody, Carroll said.
What we know about the suspect
Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who entered the United States in September 2021, multiple media outlets have reported.
Lakanwal was shot and then hospitalized following the shooting, Carroll said. His injuries were not life-threatening, The Guardian reported.
Police found a handgun believed to have been used in the shooting, CNN reported. Investigators are looking into how Lakanwal allegedly obtained the weapon.
Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 through the program “Operation Allies Welcome” following the Biden administration’s exit from Afghanistan that same year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social media platform X.
She added that the suspect “was one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States” through “Operation Allies Welcome.”
Trump, during a televised address Wednesday night, said the suspect “entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth.”
“He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about,” Trump said. “Nobody knew who was coming in.”
Following the shooting, Trump directed his administration to review the cases of individuals from Afghanistan who entered the United States during the Biden administration.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan citizens have stopped indefinitely “pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” according to a post on X.
Trump said that the suspect’s temporary protected status “was extended under legislation signed by President Biden.” CNN reported that his asylum application was approved this year, under the Trump administration.
Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition group that helps Afghans immigrate across the globe, said the shooting must “not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community.”
What officials are saying
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) called the attack “horrific and unconscionable.”
“We can confirm that a suspect is in custody for this targeted shooting and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she posted on the social media platform X.
Trump initially said on Truth Social that the suspect, who he called an “animal,” “will pay a very steep price.”
“As we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve,” the president said later in his televised speech.
The president added that the attack will escalate the administration’s crackdown on immigrants in the United States and on refugees allowed into the country from Afghanistan following the 2021 withdrawal.
“During this time of the year, when we gather home with loved ones, these two patriots were wearing the uniform of our country patrolling the streets of our capital,” he said. “They had taken a selfless oath to defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is exactly what they were doing when they were gunned down in a savage attack.”
Why is the National Guard in DC?
In the aftermath of the shooting, Hegseth, speaking to reporters in the Dominican Republic, said Trump directed that he deploy 500 additional National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful. The drop in crime has been historic,” Hegseth said. “The increase in safety and security has been historic. But if criminals want to conduct things like this, violence against America’s best, we will never back down. President Trump will never back down. That’s why the American people elected him.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, 2,188 Guard personnel are in Washington, D.C., including over 920 D.C. Guard troops and support from Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana and South Carolina.
The president initially deployed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital in August as part of a federal push to combat crime. At the time, Trump said it was “to help reestablish law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C.”
“This is liberation day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said during a press conference in August.
Democratic lawmakers criticized the deployment and called it a “brazen power grab.”
Last week, a federal judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., but put that ruling on hold until Dec. 11, while the Trump administration files appeals.
