D.C. National Guard Shooting: Sergeant Still Fighting for His Life'

Wolfe, a 24-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, had been deployed to the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on what it has called rampant crime in major cities across the U.S. He and Beckstrom, a 20-year-old Army specialist, were shot at close range on Wednesday afternoon, just blocks away from the White House.

The alleged gunman has since been identified as 29-year-old Afghan citizen Rahmanullah Lakanwal. After firing off his rounds, he himself was shot by another member of the National Guard.

Both Beckstrom and Wolfe were hospitalized in very critical condition.

The following day, President Trump announced Beckstrom’s death during a Thanksgiving call to U.S. troops, remembering her as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person” and “outstanding in every way.”

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Lakanwal was charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill while armed and criminal possession of a weapon. In the wake of Beckstrom’s death, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said he would also face a charge of first-degree murder.

The upgraded charges come after Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to “do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster.”

An investigation into the motive for the shooting remains ongoing.

According to officials, Lakanwal entered the U.S. in September 2021 through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome initiative, a program that evacuated and resettled Afghan allies who worked with the U.S. during the 20-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Lakanwal worked alongside the CIA in so-called “Zero Units,” groups of Afghan commandos who carried out missions planned by the agency and played a key role in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country.

In the last four years, he’d been living in Bellingham, Wash, with his wife and five kids and working as a delivery driver. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but it was granted this year under Trump.

In the days since the shooting, the Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports, seizing on the tragedy to escalate its crackdown on immigration.

With News Wire Services

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