A West Virginia National Guard member is “fighting for his life” days after a suspect shot him and killed another soldier in Washington, DC, the state’s governor said Nov. 29.
U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of Summersville, West Virginia, died on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, a day after the Nov. 26 attack in the nation’s capital. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was hospitalized in critical condition.
“Andrew is fighting for his life right now,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” “And his family and all of his friends, they’re trying to harvest as many prayers as possible.”
Here’s what we know on the shooting of the two National Guard members near the White House.
See tributes for National Guard troops targeted in shooting
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People bring flowers for a makeshift memorial set up after two National Guard members were shot, near the White House, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 28, 2025.
Murder charge filed against suspected gunman
On Nov. 28, federal prosecutors in DC filed a first-degree murder charge against the Afghan national police say gunned down Beckstrom and Wolfe near DC’s Farragut West Metro station, two blocks from the White House.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was initially charged with assault and weapons possession. But after Beckstrom died Nov. 27, Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told “Fox and Friends” her office would upgrade the charges against Lakanwal.
Lakanwal was shot moments after the attack and is in serious condition. The motive is unknown at this time. The U.S. Attorney’s office said it had no updates on Nov. 29.
Officials said the suspect used a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot the two Guard members.
People walk past as members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol at the Lincoln Memorial a day after two National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2025.
Trump administration seeks to restrict legal immigration after attack
President Donald Trump has threatened to curb immigration from “third world countries,” a term used to refer to largely nonwhite, poor and less developed nations. In a series of xenophobic Truth Social posts on Thanksgiving night, Trump didn’t detail the countries or exact plans but said the reduction would allow the “U.S. system to fully recover.”
He blamed former President Joe Biden for allowing people into the country. He said the government would remove migrants, remove federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens, denaturalize people of citizenship and deport foreign nationals he considered to be a public charge, security risk or “non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would reexamine green cards for people from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, due to “negative, country-specific factors.” The administration had already halted “refugee resettlement from Afghanistan and the entry of Afghan nationals in its first year in office,” the agency said.
Suspect worked with American military, CIA-backed forces in Afghanistan
Lakanwal, the alleged gunman, previously worked with the U.S. military and CIA-backed forces in Afghanistan, officials have said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the New York Times that Lakanwal was part of a “partner force” in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, where the Taliban had a stronghold.
Lakanwal entered the country in 2021 through a program meant to allow Afghans who helped the American military flee the country with their families. The Biden-era program, called Operation Allies Welcome, was designed for people who were potential targets of the Taliban after the United States pulled out of the country after two decades of war.
Officials have accused Lakanwal of driving from his home in Bellingham, Washington, where he lived with with his wife and five children, Pirro said in a Nov. 27 news conference.
Patel said the FBI is investigating the shooting as possible terrorism. DC officials have described him as a lone gunman in a targeted shooting.
A makeshift memorial is seen outside of the Farragut West Metro Station a day after two National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C.
Administration blames Biden-era program
The program that allowed Lakanwal to enter the country was set up under former President Joe Biden. More than 70,000 Afghan nationals came to the United States under two-year parole to obtain more permanent status, according to a congressional report.
Patel and Pirro have said the Biden administration didn’t conduct adequate background checks.
Reuters reported, citing documents reviewed by the news agency, Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved in April. He had no known criminal history.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Joey Garrison, Thao Nguyen, Doyle Rice, Marc Ramirez
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DC shooting: WV National Guard member ‘fighting for his life’