FBI Director Kash Patel, left, looks at photos of the two West Virginia National Guard soldiers shot in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 27, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The man accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last month, killing one, was charged in federal court Wednesday, moving the case out of the local court system.

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro wrote in a statement the “transfer of this case from Superior Court to District Court ensures that we can undertake the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate here.”

West Virginia National Guard members Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were shot while on patrol in Washington, D.C., the day before Thanksgiving. 

“Sarah Beckstrom was just 20 years old when she was killed and her parents are now forced to endure the holiday season without their daughter,” Pirro added. “Andrew Wolfe, by the grace of God, survived but has a long road ahead in his recovery.”

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was already charged with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. 

The federal charges now also include transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and transporting a stolen firearm in interstate commerce.

New details disclosed

A seven-page document submitted to the court details Lakanwal’s movements ahead of the shooting. But it doesn’t shed any light on his possible motives.  

FBI special agent Ahmad Hassanpoor wrote the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver used in the shooting was legally purchased by another person in Bellevue, Washington, in February 2008. But after that person, identified by the initials J.D., died in February 2023, the weapon was stolen. 

The affidavit alleges that Lakanwal obtained it from someone identified as W-1 after originally trying to purchase an AR-15, a compact AK-47-style stockless pistol and a pistol in October of this year. 

Lakanwal told this person that he believed he needed a weapon since he was driving for the ride-sharing services Lyft and Uber, according to the affidavit. Hassanpoor, however, wrote that Lakanwal hadn’t driven for those services since May 25 and was unemployed when he sought the weapons. 

The person identified as W-1 in the affidavit was able to secure the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver and gave it to Lakanwal on Nov. 14. 

“W-1 explained that he gave the firearm to (Lakanwal) because he believed (Lakanwal) wanted it for personal protection while working as a rideshare driver. W-1 stated that W-1 was extremely nervous during the exchange and was visibly shaking,” Hassanpoor wrote. 

“According to W-1, (Lakanwal) observed W-1’s nervousness and placed an arm around W-1 in an effort to calm him. W-1 stated that it is common knowledge among his peers that firearms acquired ‘on the streets’ are typically stolen firearms.”

The revolver was loaded with five bullets at the time. Lakanwal went to a Big 5 Sporting Goods store the next day to purchase a box of ammunition. 

Route to D.C. tracked

The same day, Nov. 15, Lakanwal searched Google Maps for “Washington, D.C.” and “The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500,” according to the affidavit.

Hassanpoor wrote that Lakanwal’s Toyota Prius was in Washington state on Nov. 16, based on “license plate reader data that is made available to law enforcement through Customs and Border Protection.”

The car was in Idaho on Nov. 19, Illinois on Nov. 21 and Washington, D.C., on Nov. 23. 

Day of shooting

A few days later, on Nov. 26, Beckstrom and Wolfe were on patrol about two blocks from the White House when shot. 

Video footage from different locations near the shooting at 17th and I streets northwest showed Lakanwal “coming around the corner at the intersection with his hands raised in a firing stance.” He then “immediately began firing in the direction of Beckstrom and Wolfe, and they are both captured on video collapsing on the ground,” according to Hassanpoor’s affidavit. 

Two majors in the National Guard, identified as NG M-1 and NG M-2 in the affidavit, were talking with Beckstrom and Wolfe when the shooting happened. 

“NG M-1 reported that he heard gunshots; as he heard gunshots, he observed Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground,” Hassanpoor wrote. “NG M-1 then observed (Lakanwal), who was dressed in a knee-length, dark-colored jacket and armed with a revolver, (fired) additional shots. NG M-1 pulled his issued service weapon and fired shots at (Lakanwal). (Lakanwal) fell to the ground where he was detained by NG M-2.”

Hassanpoor wrote that both “Beckstrom and Wolfe were unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds to the head.”

Beckstrom died as a result of her injuries at 5:58 p.m. the following day, Thanksgiving. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia charged Lakanwal with first-degree murder on Nov. 28, adding it to other criminal charges. 

Lakanwal pleaded not guilty in DC Superior Court during an arraignment on Dec. 2 and was denied bond in the case. 

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey has requested Beckstrom and Wolfe both receive the Purple Heart.  

A small memorial of flowers and an American flag outside the Farragut West Metro station in Washington, D.C., near where two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot on Nov. 26. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced Friday it has charged the man who allegedly shot two National Guard members earlier this week with first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died as a result of her injuries. 

Other charges include three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. 

The attack shocked the country and has led to a renewed discussion about immigration policy as well as the war in Afghanistan and how the country withdrew during the Biden administration. 

President Donald Trump announced late Thursday night he intends to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries,” though he didn’t specify which countries would be included or exactly how such an order would be implemented. 

Trump wrote on social media he plans to “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

The post came just hours after U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from injuries she sustained during a Wednesday shooting a couple of blocks from the White House. The other victim, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained hospitalized in critical condition. Both were West Virginia National Guard members.

The alleged shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who worked with United States forces, entered the country on Sept. 8, 2021, as part of Operation Allies Welcome, according to a statement from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

No details of immigration proposals

The White House press office declined to say Friday which countries would have their residents barred from entering the United States under the new order, referring back to the president’s social media posts, which did not include a list.

“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” Trump wrote. “Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!”

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Thursday afternoon statement the administration would pause immigration applications for Afghan nationals.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” she wrote. 

The Trump administration will also review “all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration,” McLaughlin said, saying those cases required more vetting. 

Biden Afghanistan policy blamed

In a separate post, Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for allowing the alleged shooter into the country. 

McLaughlin echoed that sentiment.

Lakanwal “was paroled in by the Biden Administration. After that, Biden signed into law that parole program, and then entered into the 2023 Ahmed Court Settlement, which bound (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to adjudicate his asylum claim on an expedited basis. Regardless if his asylum was granted or not, this monster would not have been removed because of his parole.” 

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, following two decades of war that began as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has been widely criticized.

Many of the Afghan nationals who aided the United States and allied countries were left behind as the Taliban quickly regained control. 

The nonprofit #AfghanEvac, formed in August 2021 to help resettle Afghan refugees, criticized the administration’s proposal to indefinitely halt the processing of immigration requests from Afghans.  

“Our allies are under attack today because of the actions of one deranged man. Those actions should not be ascribed to an entire community,” the organization posted on social media late Thursday.

In a lengthier statement issued Wednesday following the shooting of two National Guard members, the organization’s president, Shawn VanDiver, said #AfghanEvac “expects and fully supports the perpetrator facing full accountability and prosecution under the law.”

VanDiver continued: “AfghanEvac rejects any attempt to leverage this tragedy as a political ploy to isolate or harm Afghans who have resettled in the United States.”

Motive unknown

Lakanwal had been residing in Washington state and drove across the country before the shooting, according to Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Officials investigating the shooting have yet to release a possible motive.

Lakanwal was granted asylum in the U.S. in April, according to reporting by many media outlets, including NPR.

The Department of Homeland Security did not confirm for States Newsroom the date Lakanwal was granted asylum.

FBI Director Kash Patel, left, at a press conference on Nov. 27, 2025, looks at photos of the two West Virginia National Guard soldiers shot in Washington, D.C., the previous day. They were identified as Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Beckstrom, 20.  (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — West Virginia National Guard member U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, one of the victims of a shooting near the White House, died Thursday, President Donald Trump said.

“She’s just passed away,” Trump said. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us.”

Trump, who was speaking with members of the military via video, said she was “magnificent in every way.”

A White House official said Trump spoke with Beckstrom’s parents on Thursday night.

The other victim, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, underwent surgery and remained hospitalized in Washington, D.C., in critical condition.

“The other young man is fighting for his life,” Trump said. 

Earlier Thursday, federal law enforcement officials examined evidence collected from the home of the alleged lone gunman, who drove to the nation’s capital from Washington state to target the troops, officials said.

They did not disclose a motive for the attack in a busy area of offices and retail just blocks from the White House, the day before Thanksgiving.

Beckstrom and Wolfe underwent surgery and were hospitalized  after the suspect allegedly shot them in broad daylight Wednesday, according to Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

A military press release said Beckstrom, of Summersville, was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade. Wolfe, of Martinsburg, was assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing. 

Wolfe entered service on Feb. 5, 2019 and had been on orders in the district since the beginning of the mission in August. Beckstrom entered service on June 26, 2023 and also had been in the district since August.

“Their families are with them now. They are critical. I think you understand the meaning of that,” Pirro told reporters at a Thursday morning briefing.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan refugee who worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is currently facing three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, Pirro said, adding the charges are “appropriate” for now.

“It’s not clear, you know, how this is going to end up. But let me be perfectly clear about how it will end up in this office if one of them is to pass. And God forbid that happens, this is a murder one (charge). Period. End of the story,” Pirro said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Thursday morning the Department of Justice will seek the death penalty if either of the guard members succumbs to their injuries.

Bondi said Beckstrom had volunteered to work over the holiday.

Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard, commanding general of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, told reporters, “Regardless of the outcome, we know that their lives, their family life, their families’ lives are all changed forever because one person decided to do this horrific and evil thing.”

Pirro said the suspect “drove his vehicle across the country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital.” 

Trump mobilized 800 National Guard members to the district in August, on the grounds of a “crime emergency,” despite a nearly 30-year low in violent crime in the city. 

Some of the guard troops were instructed they would be carrying service weapons while deployed in the district, according to an Aug. 17 report in the Wall Street Journal. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday the administration will send an additional 500 National Guard troops to the district.

Fellow guard troops responded ‘immediately’

Shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, at 17th and I streets NW, near the Farragut West Metro station, Lakanwal allegedly shot the first guard member, then “leans over and strikes the guardsman again,” Pirro said, not identifying which member was initially struck. 

Lakanwal then struck the second guard member “several times,” she said.

“Fellow guardsmen who were there responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat, and subduing him at the scene. He was transported to a local hospital, where he remains as we speak, under heavy guard. Thanks to the swift and coordinated response of the National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Department, no additional victims were harmed, and the scene was secured within minutes,” Pirro said.

Kash Patel, director of the FBI, said the agency searched Lakanwal’s home last night in Bellingham, Washington, seizing multiple electronic devices and interviewing family members. Patel said the suspect is believed to have five children.

The gun Lakanwal used in the attack, a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, is being analyzed at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, Patel said.

Patel said the FBI is also interviewing interested parties in San Diego but would not provide further details on the “ongoing investigation.”

A ‘relationship’ with ‘partner forces’ in Afghanistan

Patel told reporters that he spoke to CIA Director John Ratcliffe Wednesday night and obtained “confirmation now that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces.”

“We are fully investigating that aspect of his background as well, to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America,” Patel said.

Patel would not answer reporters’ questions about whether and when Lakanwal had been granted asylum in the U.S. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for a timeline.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a statement Wednesday night confirming Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, as part of the Operation Allies Welcome.

The program was established after the U.S. military’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan “to support vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan for the past two decades, as they safely resettle in the United States,” according to Department of Homeland archived information.

Noem did not provide any further information on Lakanwal’s asylum process.

The administration announced Wednesday night it will immediately halt any immigration requests from Afghan nationals.

Lakanwal had worked with a CIA-backed military unit in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, Fox News reported Wednesday night. The CIA did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.

Guard deployment in the courts

Last week, a District of Columbia federal judge found the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard in the city illegal. However, Judge Jia Cobb paused her order for three weeks to give the Trump administration time to remove the guard members along with appealing her ruling.  

More than 2,000 members of the guard have remained in the district, and are expected to stay until the end of February, according to Cobb’s order.

The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in an emergency motion to intervene.