U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro identified the two National Guardsmen viciously shot near the White House on Wednesday as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, both of West Virginia.
Pirro announced their identities at a press conference Thanksgiving morning, flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).
“They were uniformed members of the West Virginia National Guard, and they were in D.C. to keep D.C. safe pursuant to President Trump’s executive order to make D.C. safe and beautiful,” Pirro said.
Both Beckstrom and Wolfe were sworn in less than a day before they were shot, the U.S attorney noted.
Pirro shared that both remain “in critical condition” after having undergone surgery.
“We pray for their well-being as they continue to be cared for in the best possible way. We have been in constant contact with their families and have provided them with every resource needed during this difficult time,” she said.
The suspected shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who is from Afghanistan and entered the United States under former President Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in September 2021 after the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, opened fire on the Guardsmen near the Farragut West Metro Station, just blocks northwest of the White House, at around 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time, Pirro said.
Pirro said Lakanwal used a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver in the “ambush-style” and “targeted” attack.
“One guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the guardsman again,” she detailed.
“Another guardsman is struck several times. Fellow guardsmen, who were there, responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat, and subduing him at the scene,” Pirro added. “He was transported to a local hospital where he remains, as we speak, under heavy guard.”
According to Pirro, Lakanwal resides in Bellingham, Washington State, with his wife and five children, and drove across the country “with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital.”
Pirro said his charges are dependent on the condition of Beckstrom and Wolfe. Currently, the appropriate charges are three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and a charge of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, but if either of the Guardsmen does not survive, he will face first-degree murder charges, according to the U.S. attorney.
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