WASHINGTON — Two National Guard members from West Virginia remain in critical condition after being shot in downtown Washington, D.C., near the White House on Wednesday, according to officials.
“Unfortunately, today, as most families join together to give thanks for the blessings that have been bestowed upon them, two families are shattered and destroyed and torn apart as a result of the actions of one man,” Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Thursday.
The victims were identified as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, of Webster Springs, West Virginia, and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, officials announced on Thursday. They were sworn in just 24 hours before the shooting, officials said.
Brigadier Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, commander of the D.C. National Guard, was emotional while discussing the struggles the families of the victims will face this Thanksgiving — with all their lives “changed forever because one person decided to do this horrific and evil thing.”
The two Guardsmen were armed at the time of the shooting, Jeffrey Carroll, the executive assistant chief for the Metropolitan Police Department, said on Wednesday.
The National Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital as part of President Trump’s federal takeover of the city in August. According to the most recent update, there are 2,188 Guard personnel assigned to D.C.
After the shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump has asked to send another 500 National Guardsmen to D.C.
The suspected shooter was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who allegedly drove across the country from Washington state to the nation’s capital and targeted the Guardsmen, officials said.
Lakanwal was charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill while armed and criminal possession of a weapon, but he could also face the charge of first-degree murder depending on the conditions of the Guardsmen, Pirro said.