(LifeSiteNews) – Today Americans are giving thanks that two members of the National Guard were not instantly killed in a Washington, D.C. shooting incident.
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot near the White House on Wednesday around 4:15 PM EST; both remain in critical condition in the hospital. The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan who came to the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. President Donald Trump called the double shooting a “heinous assault” and an “act of terror.”
The two National Guard members were patrolling near the corner of 17th and I streets when Lakanwal “came around the corner” and “immediately started firing,” according to Metropolitan Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll, who described the attack as an “ambush.” A member of law enforcement—either a Guardsman or responding officer—opened fire on the shooter, severely wounding him. Lakanwal was shot at least four times before being tackled to the ground and restrained.
Law enforcement officers in the area were able to treat the two wounded soldiers swiftly; there is no update on their condition as of publication time.
According to Fox News, the suspect had previously collaborated with American forces in the War on Terror: “Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.”
After relocating to the United States, Lakanwal settled in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children. “How he traveled the roughly 2,500 miles to Washington, D.C., ahead of Wednesday’s shooting remains unclear,” Fox News reported.
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After the terrorist attack, the Department of Homeland Security referred to the shooter as a “criminal alien from Afghanistan” and President Trump stated that “ever single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden” must be re-examined.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated that President Trump has requested an additional 500 members of the National Guard be sent to Washington, D.C. to join the already deployed 2,200 troops. The Trump administration had brought in the National Guard in August to reduce “out of control crime,” and criminal activity has dropped since the deployment.
Secretary Hegseth stated that the double shooting “will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C. safe and beautiful.”
A federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard was unlawful; the administration has now requested an emergency stay of order from a federal appeals court in the wake of the terrorist attack.
