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A 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been named in US media as the suepect of the attack
Rachel Dobkinin New York,Alex CroftThursday 27 November 2025 10:50 GMT
CloseTwo West Virginia National Guard members shot in Washington DC
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Donald Trump has hit out at the suspect arrested after two National Guardsmen were shot in Washington, D.C., in what the president described as a “monstrous ambush-style attack.”
The guardsmen from West Virginia were shot by a lone gunman just north of the White House shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
But the motive of the suspect, identified in reports as a 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains unclear. More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to D.C. in Trump’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump, who has been in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said in an address Wednesday night, “I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”
open image in galleryA member of the U.S. Secret Service stands guard in a cordoned-off area after two National Guard members were shot near the White House (Reuters)Here is everything we know about the shooting so far:
Who is the suspected shooter?
The suspect has been identified in US media as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the he is an Afghan who came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war, after the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Lakanwal worked with the CIA while in Afghanistan, the agency’s director John Ratcliffe revealed to Fox News on Wednesday night, as a “member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”.
“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe added.
A close relative said Lakanwal served in the Afghan Army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces, NBC News reported. Sources told the outlet that he was granted asylum earlier this year.
Authorities say the suspect has been living in Washington state, more than 2,600 miles from D.C.
open image in galleryThe suspect has been identified as an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, according to reports (Getty Images)His motives remaining unclear, but two senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News that the FBI will initially investigate the shooting as a possible act of terrorism. Lakanwal is reportedly not cooperating with the investigation so far.
Many details about the suspect are still unknown as he’s still in the hospital receiving treatment, Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters. His injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening.
It’s unclear what type of weapon was used in the shooting.
Trump said Wednesday night that the Homeland Security Department is “confident” that the suspect was from Afghanistan, which the president described as “a hellhole on Earth.”
“He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021 for those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in,” Trump said.
Following the shooting, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced an immediate and indefinite halt to the "processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals" pending a review of security and vetting protocols.
open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump has ripped into the suspect who shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon (AFP via Getty Images)What happened on Wednesday?
Shots were fired just north of the White House and near the Farragut West Metro Station.
The two wounded soldiers were part of a "high-visibility patrol" around 2.15p.m. E.T. near the corner of 17th and I streets, a few blocks from the White House.
Caroll told reporters late Wednesday afternoon that the guardsmen had been patrolling the area when the suspected shooter came around the corner, raised his arm with a gun and fired at the soldiers.
The suspect "ambushed" them, Carroll said, adding that other National Guard troops subdued the shooter after an exchange of gunfire.
“They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect, after he had been shot, on the ground until law enforcement got there within moments,” Carroll said.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the press briefing that it was a "targeted shooting”.
The other guardsmen had “heard the gunfire. They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect after he had been shot on the ground.”
Carroll said the suspect was shot during the incident and that both the guardsmen and the suspect were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Building manager Amelia Smith, who works at 17th Street NW and heard the gunfire, told NBC News she heard four shots at first and then “many, many more”.
“I started seeing Secret Service members rushing by, running by, cycling by, and more and more sirens. I wasn’t sure if it was gunshots, but then I thought, OK, no one’s going to be putting off fireworks the day before Thanksgiving. And when I heard the sirens, I was like, this is, this is something serious,” she added.
open image in galleryThe suspect has been identified as an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, according to reports (Getty Images)What condition are the guardsmen in?
The guards members, a woman and a man from West Virginia according to ABC News, are in critical condition, officials said late Wednesday afternoon, clearing up some earlier confusion.
One of them was named as Andrew Wolfe in a tribute post on his old West Virginia high school’s Facebook page. Wolfe and a colleague remain in a critical condition after yesterday’s attack and he is undergoing surgery, the school states, promising further updates.
Earlier Wednesday, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey announced that the soldiers had died.
open image in galleryWolfe’s old Wst Virginia high school paid tribute on its Facebook page (Facebook)“It is with great sorrow that we can confirm both members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot earlier today in Washington, DC have passed away from their injuries,” Morrisey wrote on X.
In a follow-up post, the governor said, “We are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information.”
open image in galleryTrump said in a Wednesday night address, ‘I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price’ (AP)What have authorities said about the shooting?
Trump told Americans in an impromptu address, “Earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington DC were shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”
“This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity,” the president said.
During his address, Trump called for a reinvestigation into all Afghan refugees who had entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services separately said on X that the processing of all immigration requests of Afghan nationals has been “stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
open image in galleryThe guardsmen are in critical condition (Getty Images)Shawn VanDiver, president of Afghan advocacy group, AfghanEvac, said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic attack in Washington, DC,” and urged people, including elected officials, “not to demonize the Afghan community for the deranged choice” the suspect made.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters following the shooting that Trump has asked him to add 500 more troops to the nation’s capital.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful,” Hegseth said.
FBI Director Kash Patelsaid in an X post that the agency is “engaged and assisting” in the investigation into the shooting.
Alex Woodward contributed to this reporting.
