One of the National Guard soldiers shot near the White House this week died from her injuries, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, is dead after the shooting in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday that critically injured her and one other member of the West Virginia National Guard, Trump said during a Thanksgiving event where he spoke virtually with servicemembers.
The other National Guard member, identified as Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, is “fighting for his life,” Trump said. Trump had identified the suspected shooter — who was also shot and is hospitalized according to authorities — as an Afghan national who entered the United States after U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The suspect, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had reportedly worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Jeff Carroll, the executive assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department, said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that the troops, who had been on patrol, were in critical condition at the time.
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The president also doubled down on remarks Thursday that the shooting was the fault of former President Joe Biden.
“This is part of the horrendous airlift from Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of people poured into our Country totally unvetted and unchecked,” Trump wrote in a series of posts on Truth Social. “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.”
The suspect will face a first-degree murder charge, U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced Friday morning after the news of Beckstrom’s death but there would likely be “many more charges to come.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will operate under new guidance “allowing for negative, country-specific factors to be considered when vetting aliens from 19 high-risk countries” including Afghanistan, the agency said in a release on Thursday. The Trump administration has been fully or partially restricting immigration from those countries since earlier this year.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow said in a social media post Thursday that the administration will conduct “a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien” from the countries on the list.
The president on Wednesday said the U.S. must “re-examine” every Afghan who entered the country during the Biden administration.
“This heinous assault was an act of evil and an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity,” Trump said. “As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”
The president, who was not in Washington at the time of the shooting, has also ordered 500 additional troops be added to Washington in response to the incident.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C. safe and beautiful,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
D.C. Fire and EMS confirmed to NOTUS on Wednesday that the department treated and transported three gunshot victims from 17th and H Street, which is two blocks from the White House.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia initially said on X that both members of the guard, who were from the state, had “passed away from their injuries” only to walk that information back a short time later.
“We are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information,” he said.
According to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the crime scene was quickly secured and one suspect was taken into custody.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., said at the press conference that the attack seemed to be targeted, though Carroll said that a motive is unclear.
“What we know … is that this is a targeted shooting of one individual who appeared to target these guardsmen,” Bowser said. “That individual has been taken into custody.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said during the press conference that the suspect was subdued by other National Guard troops, preventing further harm.
“We are in the preliminary stages of this investigation,” Patel said. “We will run down every single week every piece of evidence. This is the power of the US government at its best at the state, local and federal level.”
Members of the National Guard from the District of Columbia and other states have been present in Washington for months as part of Trump’s “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful” mission.
In addition to the District of Columbia’s National Guard, multiple Republican governors volunteered their troops to be part of the mission in Washington — Morrisey among them.
“West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” Morrisey said when he announced he would be sending more than 300 personnel to D.C. in mid-August.
In total, more than 2,000 troops from West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina and Georgia were sent to Washington, where they have continued to patrol high-traffic areas and assist with beautification efforts.
This week, a federal judge ruled that their presence was unlawful, but the order returning them home was stayed until Dec. 11. Before the court ruling, Hegseth had extended their stay through February.
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Editor’s note: An earlier headline about the condition of the National Guard troops who were shot was based off of information from the governor of West Virginia. He later walked that information back.
Editor’s note, 11/28: This story has been updated after Trump announced one of the National Guard members died.
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