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President Donald Trump said Thursday that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot near the White House had died, using the moment to escalate criticism of the Afghan evacuee program that brought the suspect to the United States.
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died hours after the shooting, Trump said during a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained in critical condition. “She’s just passed away,” Trump told service members. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now.” The White House said the president later spoke with Beckstrom’s parents.
Trump called the attack a “terrorist act” and held up a photo from the 2021 Kabul evacuation as he blamed Biden-era resettlement programs for allowing Afghan allies to enter the country. “We have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country,” he said. “For the most part, we don’t want them.”
Authorities identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who had worked in a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary unit before arriving in the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration initiative that brought roughly 76,000 Afghans to the country after the U.S. withdrawal. Lakanwal’s asylum case was approved under the Trump administration, according to #AfghanEvac.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro declined to identify a motive but described the shooting as an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 revolver. Charges are expected to be upgraded following Beckstrom’s death. Lakanwal was also shot during the encounter; his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
The rare killing of National Guard members on U.S. soil comes as the administration faces legal and political battles over its deployment of troops to cities. Nearly 2,200 Guard members remain assigned to duties across Washington after Trump federalized the D.C. police force in August.
Lakanwal, originally from Afghanistan’s Khost province, served in the CIA-supported Zero Units, which conducted front-line combat operations alongside American personnel. A cousin and former unit official, both speaking anonymously due to safety concerns, said he had risen to a team leader role and later relocated to Washington state with his wife and five children.
In the attack’s aftermath, Trump called for reinvestigating all Afghan refugees admitted since 2021. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said screenings for people from 19 “high-risk” countries would be expanded, though he did not identify the nations.
Advocates for Afghan allies defended the resettlement program, saying evacuees underwent extensive vetting and faced life-threatening risk under Taliban rule. But Thursday’s shooting immediately deepened political divides over immigration, national security and the long legacy of the Afghanistan War.
