National Guard member dies after shooting in Washington DC

One of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington DC on Wednesday has died, US President Donald Trump said.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries, President Trump said Thursday night.

The second member of the National Guard, Andrew Wolfe, 24, “is fighting for his life,” he said.

Both were shot at point-blank range near Farragut Square in the city center shortly after 2:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday. Police arrested a suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man.

President Trump confirmed Beckstrom’s death during a Thanksgiving call with U.S. service members.

“Sarah Beckstrom from West Virginia, one of the guards we’re talking about, a young, magnificent, highly respected person… She just passed away. She’s no longer with us,” he said.

Ms. Beckstrom enlisted on June 26, 2023 and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard.

Beckstrom had volunteered to work in the nation’s capital over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News after the shooting.

Jim Justice, a Republican senator from West Virginia, said he was “absolutely devastated” to learn of Beckstrom’s death.

“Our prayers are with his family, friends and fellow guards during an incredibly difficult Thanksgiving,” he said in a statement.

“We are also lifting Andrew Wolfe up in prayer as he continues his journey to recovery.”

Both soldiers had been on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, an area where many office workers hang out at lunchtime.

More than 2,000 soldiers have been protecting the nation’s capital since August, when the president began deploying troops to cities to confront what he called “out of control” crime.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were among those deployed in August, the West Virginia National Guard confirmed to BBC News.

National Guard troops are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but they have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.

The location of the shooting, just a few blocks from the White House, meant that several law enforcement officers rushed to the scene to treat the two victims and apprehend the gunman.

The suspect was shot four times while being detained, police sources told CBS News, the BBC’s news partner in the United States.

Authorities said Lakanwal arrived in the United States from Afghanistan in 2021.

He will be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, as well as possession of a firearm during a violent crime, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Thursday morning at a news conference, before news of Beckstrom’s death.

“We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge does not have to be first degree murder,” Pirro added. “But make no mistake, if you don’t, that will certainly be the charge: first-degree murder.”

Attorney General Bondi told Fox News on Thursday that her office will seek the death penalty against the suspect, calling him a “monster who should not have been in our country.”

Lakanwal reportedly came to the United States under a program called Operation Allies Welcome, which offered special immigration protections to Afghans following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He had helped protect US forces at Kabul airport in 2021 as thousands of people struggled to escape Afghanistan before the Taliban took power, a former military commander who served alongside him told the BBC’s Afghan Service.

The suspect had been recruited into Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force. His unit was known locally as Scorpion Forces and operated initially under the direction of the CIA, but ultimately for the Afghan intelligence department known as the National Directorate of Security.

Lakanwal was a specialist in GPS trackers, the former commander told the BBC, describing him as a “sporty and cheerful character”.

His entire unit was moved from Kandahar to Kabul five days before the Taliban entered the capital. They continued to protect the airport for another six days, before they too were flown to the United States.

At a news conference Thursday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Lakanwal’s connection to U.S. forces and said the suspect “had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces” before moving to the United States.

Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and his request was granted earlier this year, an official told CBS.

On Thursday, Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the president had ordered him to conduct “a rigorous, large-scale reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”

When the BBC asked which countries were on the list, the agency pointed to a June White House proclamation that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela.

Hafizullah Maroof and Sayed Abdullah Nizami of the BBC Afghan Service contributed to this report.