National Guardsman shot in DC dies

The National Guard who was shot just yards from the White House has died from her wounds, Donald Trump announced.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had been left in a critical condition when she was shot alongside 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, a fellow member of the Guard, in Washington DC on Wednesday.

Authorities have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old former special forces commander from Afghanistan, who came to the US in 2021 as part of a resettlement programme.

Mr Trump, the US president, announced Ms Beckstrom’s death during a Thanksgiving call with service members on Thursday evening.

Credit: Reuters

“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the Guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person… She’s just passed away,” he said.

“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened. She was savagely attacked.”

Mr Wolfe, who underwent surgery on Wednesday, is in “very bad shape” and “fighting for his life”, the president added.

Andrew Wolfe remains in a critical condition following the attack – Andrew Wolfe / Facebook

Authorities said the pair had been sworn in to guard the streets of the US capital less than 24 hours before the attack, which took place the day before Thanksgiving. Ms Beckstrom is said to have volunteered to work on the holiday.

Gary Beckstrom, the young soldier’s father, told The New York Times earlier on Thursday that his daughter had received a “mortal wound” and was not expected to survive.

“I’m holding her hand right now,” he added.

Sarah Beckstrom was killed in the shooting near the White House

The National Guard has been deployed in Washington DC since August, when Mr Trump declared he was mobilising troops to clamp down on crime.

The US president ordered 500 more troops onto the streets shortly after the shooting. A judge has ruled the deployment illegal, but the Trump administration appealed the decision on Wednesday, following the attack.

Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, said shortly after Ms Beckstrom’s death that America would “never forget her courage” and suggested Mr Lakanwal would face the death penalty.

The suspect has been named as Rahmanullah Lakanwal

Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC, said on Thursday that Mr Lakanwal had been charged with assault with intent to kill and faced up to 15 years in prison, but this would be upgraded to murder in the first degree if Ms Beckstrom or Mr Wolfe died.

Mr Lakanwal drove across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington state, where he lived with his wife and five children, and allegedly ambushed the two National Guard members on 17th and I Streets near the Farragut West station, Ms Pirro said.

She continued: “One Guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the Guardsman again. Another Guardsman is struck several times.”

Mr Lakanwal, who was subdued by other National Guard members after the shooting, was taken to hospital and is under heavy guard.

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Fox News reported on Wednesday that he was in the country illegally after his visa expired in September, but this was not confirmed by authorities.

The FBI on Thursday searched multiple properties, including a home in Washington state, linked to the suspect, seizing a number of electronic devices, including phones, laptops and iPads, and interviewing his relatives.

Kash Patel, the FBI director, who briefed the media in the hours after the shooting, paid tribute to Ms Beckstrom as a “young soldier with her entire life ahead of her” and asked for prayers for her family and friends.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: “May God bless Sarah’s family during this unimaginably difficult time.”