WASHINGTON — Two West Virginia National Guard members deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday afternoon just blocks from the White House in what authorities described as a targeted attack.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the soldiers were hospitalized in critical condition.
The rare shooting of National Guard personnel — occurring on the eve of Thanksgiving — comes after the Trump administration deployed hundreds of troops in Washington D.C. to curb violent crime.
A suspect was taken into custody and also was shot, sustaining wounds not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The 29-year-old suspect, identified by officials as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration program that evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal. Authorities were still working to confirm his background.
Lakanwal arrived in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children, according to his former landlord, Kristina Widman.
In a video message Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called for a reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees admitted under the Biden administration, saying,
“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” and calling the shooting “a crime against our entire nation.”
D.C. Police Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said investigators had not identified a motive. He said video reviewed by police shows the gunman “came around the corner” and immediately opened fire on the troops. Other Guard members nearby rushed toward the sound of gunfire and helped restrain the shooter after he was wounded.
“This was a targeted shooting,” Bowser said.
The attack occurred roughly two blocks northwest of the White House near a Metro station. Carroll said authorities were still determining whether a Guard member or a law enforcement officer shot the suspect.
Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least one Guard member exchanged gunfire with the assailant.
Social media video taken moments after the shooting showed first responders performing CPR on one soldier while treating the other on a glass-covered sidewalk.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene. Stacy Walters said she heard two gunshots while sitting in her car and saw people running as police quickly flooded the area.
“It’s such a beautiful day. Who would do this? And we’re getting ready for the holidays?” she said.
Emma McDonald, who had just exited a Metro station, said she took shelter in a nearby café. Minutes later, she saw emergency personnel roll a stretcher carrying a Guard member whose head was covered in blood.
Police cordoned off the area as fire engines, police vehicles and helicopters converged. Agents from the Secret Service and the ATF were on scene, and National Guard troops stood watch. At least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking to service members in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, called the shooting “a somber reminder that soldiers, whether active duty, reserve or National Guard, are the sword and the shield of the United States of America.”
Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, canceled plans to visit troops at Guantanamo Bay for Thanksgiving so he could travel to Washington. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said on social media that he visited the wounded soldiers in the hospital and that his “heart breaks for them.”
The West Virginia troops are among those deployed to Washington under an emergency order issued by Trump in August that federalized the city’s police force and sent in Guard units from eight states.
More than 400 West Virginia Guard members arrived in August. About 160 volunteered last week to extend their service through the end of the year; the remainder returned home earlier this month.
