National Guard member dies as ambush in US capital becomes political flashpoint

A National Guard member died on Thursday (27 November) after being shot near the White House in an ambush that investigators say was carried out by an Afghan national, an attack President Donald Trump blamed on Biden-era immigration vetting failures as he ordered a sweeping review of asylum cases.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds, and her fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, was "fighting for his life," Trump said, as investigators conducted what officials described as a terrorism probe after Wednesday's shooting.

The FBI searched multiple properties in a widening investigation, including a home in Washington state linked to the suspect, who officials said was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the US in 2021 under a resettlement programme.

Agents seized numerous electronic devices from the residence of the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, including mobile phones, laptops and iPads, and interviewed his relatives, FBI Director Kash Patel told a news conference.

US Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro said the suspect drove cross-country and then ambushed the Guard members while they were patrolling near the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

"I want to express the anguish and the horror of our entire nation that the terrorist attack yesterday in our nation's capital, in which a savage monster gunned down two service members in the West Virginia National Guard, who were deployed as part of the DC Task Force," Trump said in a Thanksgiving call with US military personnel.

Casting blame on the administration of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, Trump alleged that the gunman — who he described as having gone "cuckoo" — was among thousands of Afghans who came in unvetted during the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021. He provided no evidence to support the claim.

Trump said the suspect's "atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country."

Armed with a .357 Magnum revolver, the gunman shot the two National Guard members before being wounded in an exchange of gunfire with other troops. He was in hospital in serious condition, Trump said.

"My baby girl has passed to glory," Gary Beckstrom, father of the National Guard member who died, wrote on social media, adding that his family was grappling with a "horrible tragedy". A White House official said Trump later spoke by phone with Beckstrom's parents.

Suspected assailant acted alone

The alleged assailant, who lived in Washington state with his wife and five children, appeared to have acted alone, said Jeff Carroll, Executive Assistant Chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

Asked whether he would deport the suspect's wife and children, Trump said: "We're looking at the whole situation with family."

The programme under which the suspect entered the US — which allowed in more than 70,000 Afghan nationals, according to a congressional report — was designed with vetting procedures involving US counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies. But critics argued that the large scale and rushed nature of the evacuations made background checks ineffective.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News the US government planned to bring terrorism charges against the gunman and seek a life sentence "at a minimum". Following the National Guard member's death, she suggested she would seek the death penalty.

At the press conference, Patel called the shooting "a heinous act of terrorism," but neither he nor Pirro offered a possible motive.

Speaking to reporters, Trump repeated Patel and Pirro's accusations that the Biden administration was responsible for policies that allegedly allowed the Afghan immigrant into the US, though none offered evidence to substantiate the claim.

A US government file seen by Reuters showed that the alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under Trump.

Trump did not dispute this, but said: "When it comes to asylum, when they're flown in, it's very hard to get them out. No matter how you want to do it, it's very hard to get them out, but we're going to be getting them all out now."

The incident may provide Trump — who has made tightening both legal and illegal immigration central to his presidency — an opening to argue that even legal pathways such as asylum pose security risks.

Less than 24 hours after the shooting, Trump officials began ordering extensive reviews of immigration policies.

The Trump administration launched a review of all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration, as well as Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

Member of CIA-backed force

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that Lakanwal had worked with CIA-backed local units in Afghanistan.

The New York Times, citing officials, identified the force as a Zero Unit, trained and supported by the US intelligence agency in Kandahar. The units, which conducted night raids and clandestine missions during the US war in Afghanistan, had become part of the Afghan intelligence service by the time US troops withdrew.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era programme to resettle Afghans who assisted the US during the Afghanistan war.

"The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government," Ratcliffe said. "This individual — and so many others — should never have been allowed to come here."

A Trump administration official said Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on 23 April this year, three months after Trump took office. Lakanwal had no known criminal history, the official said.

The two Guard members from West Virginia were part of a militarised law enforcement mission ordered by Trump in August and challenged in court by Washington, D.C., officials.