UPDATE: The two National Guardsmen shot today in Washington DC have died from their injuries, says the Governor of West Virginia.
“It is with great sorrow that we can confirm both members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot earlier today in Washington, DC have passed away from their injuries,” Governor Patrick Morrisey wrote on social media Wednesday. “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country. We are in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues.”
The news caused shock and sorrow as cable news anchor read out Gov. Morrisey’s message, MS Now’s Katy Tur’s voice broke as she told viewers the terrible update in what she called a “year of traumas.”
PREVIOUSLY, 12:48 PM: Donald Trump says the two National Guard members shot today in Washington DC are “critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals.”
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen …, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” Trump added online from his home in Florida.
In total three people have been taken to hospital, including the two Guardsmen, who are memberrs of the West Virginia. With hundreds of Guardsmen deployed in contentious force o DC earlier this year by Trump, no motive has been revealed by law enforcement as of yet.
A suspect is now in custody, DC police say too.
The shooting occurred about a minute away from the White House, at the Farragut West Metro Station. It is unclear if the Guardsmen were the target, but we do know that the duo engage in fire with the gunman. If the gunman was deliberately shooting at the Guardsmen, that would make this a federal crime and come under the FBI‘s investigative jurisdiction.
To that, FBI Director Kash Patel took to social media to state the Bureau is already on the scene of the crime:
As the Executive Mansion, the Treasury Department and other government buildings went into full lockdown seconds after the shooting started, administration Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation. The president has been briefed.”
Earlier Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave official notice of the tragic incident:
Dozens of police swarmed 18th Street mere minutes after the shooting began and people ran for safety. Joined now by more National Guardsmen, Secret Service , DHS, the FBIand other law enforcement, the DC Police Department have shut the whole distinctly non-residential area of the District down.
On what is usually a slow pre-Thanksgiving news day, cable channels CNN, MS Now and Fox News went full-on covering the shooting — as did the BBC. “Almost get over-response ..lot of things going on,” CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey said on-air as the nets scrambled to handle a clearly fluid situation.
The vast majority of the Guardsmen deployed in DC are from Southern states like Mississippi and Georgia
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