National Guard shooting suspect worked with CIA in Afghanistan, drove across US for attack

Washington: The man suspected of shooting two National Guard members two blocks from the White House drove across the continental United States with a plan to commit his crime, officials say, as they begin a global investigation into what they are calling a terrorist act.

The suspect, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, came to the US in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, a program to resettle vulnerable Afghans who assisted the US during its two-decade presence in the country after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Central Intelligence Agency director John Ratcliffe told Fox News that Lakanwal worked with the US government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar, ending shortly before the final US evacuation in August 2021.

Multiple US media outlets including Reuters and CNN reported Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and that it was granted in April, citing administration officials.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said Lakanwal drove to Washington DC from the state of Washington – on the other side of the country – “with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital”.

She described the assault as a brazen and targeted attack on National Guard troops. “A lone gunman opened fire without provocation, ambush style, armed with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver,” she said.

The accused fired at one guard, who fell to the ground, then leaned over and shot the guard again, Pirro alleged. He then shot the other guard “several times” before being shot and subdued by other nearby guards.

Pirro identified the two guards as Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, from the West Virginia National Guard. Both remained in critical condition on Thursday (Friday AEDT), she said.