Two National Guard soldiers are seriously injured after being shot dead in Washington, DC, less than two blocks from the White House, in what the city’s mayor called a “targeted shooting.”
Police said a lone suspect opened fire on National Guard members Wednesday afternoon, before being subdued by other nearby National Guard members who had heard the gunshots.
The attack prompted the White House to briefly shut down and temporarily suspend flights at the city’s main airport on the eve of Thanksgiving.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida at the time of the attack, vowed that the attacker would “pay a very high price.” The suspect is reportedly an Afghan national.
fake imagesMultiple law enforcement sources identified the suspect to the BBC’s U.S. partner CBS as Rahmanullah Lakanwal and said he entered the United States in 2021.
A statement from Joint Task Force DC, which oversees National Guard deployments in the nation’s capital, said the attack took place around 2:15 p.m. EST (5:15 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut Square subway station.
The soldiers were on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, a popular lunch spot for office workers.
FBI Director Kash Patel, whose agency is leading the investigation, said at a news conference that the soldiers were “brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence.”
Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect “turned the corner” and “immediately began discharging a firearm.”
Other National Guard members nearby heard the gunshots and responded, he said.
“They were actually able to intervene and hold the suspect, after he was shot, on the ground until authorities got there in a few moments,” Carroll said.
The suspect was shot four times, police sources told CBS.
It is unclear what weapon was used in the assault. The motive was also not immediately clear.
President Trump, who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, vowed to punish the attacker.
“The animal that shot the two national guardsmen, both seriously injured and now in two separate hospitals, is also seriously injured, but will still pay a very high price,” he wrote in Truth Social.
“God bless our Great National Guard and all our military and law enforcement,” he added.
US Vice President JD Vance, who was addressing troops in Kentucky at the time of the attack, urged “everyone who is a person of faith” to pray for the victims.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said in a post on X that both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries.
But he soon released a second statement citing “conflicting reports” about his condition.
Flights through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were briefly suspended after the attack, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At the scene, glass from a bus stop lay broken on the sidewalk.
The intersection was filled with police cars, armed security personnel and National Guard troops.
A witness told the BBC he heard two gunshots, followed by three more.
People ran in panic and some tried to take refuge in a liquor store.
Another witness who was in his car near the subway station said he also heard the gunshots.
He showed the BBC images he took of the two soldiers lying in the street in their uniforms being treated by doctors.
A third person was also on the sidewalk being treated. The witness said he did not know if this third person was the alleged gunman.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to Washington, DC, following the attack.
“This will only strengthen our determination to ensure that Washington DC is safe and beautiful,” the Pentagon chief said.
There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington, DC.
The force includes contingents from the District of Columbia, as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.
They are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.
The National Guard was sent to Washington DC in August to deal with what Trump called “out of control” crime.
Overall crime in the nation’s capital has decreased since the force was sent in, although it is unclear how much of the decline can be attributed to the presence of troops on the streets.
Washington DC police figures show 62 homicides (a category that includes murder) between May 25 and November 25 of this year.
That compares with 107 homicides recorded in the same period last year.
Police have recorded almost 6,500 crimes since August 12, compared to about 9,500 in the same period in 2024.
Trump, a Republican, has sent the National Guard to Democratic-led American cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Memphis.
He maintains that the deployments were necessary to combat crime, but his opponents legally challenged the measures, accusing the White House of overreach.
