Two members of the West Virginia National Guard remained in critical condition on Thursday after being shot in a brazen daylight ambush just blocks from the White House. The suspect–Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who served with US forces in Afghanistan–was in custody, and officials said they are treating the incident as a potential act of terrorism.
The unprecedented attack, steps away from the US President’s residence, has prompted swift and sweeping fallout: the Trump administration has suspended all Afghan immigration, and authorities are probing whether the shooter was influenced by overseas militant groups.
“It was a targeted shooting” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, describing how the assailant raised a handgun and “ambushed these members of the National Guard” at close range. Both soldiers were struck and collapsed on the sidewalk as bystanders ran for cover. A third Guard member stationed nearby returned fire and managed to subdue the attacker, who was shot multiple times and badly wounded. Within minutes, a swarm of Secret Service, FBI, and Metropolitan Police officers converged on the scene – just two blocks north-west of the White House – and the executive mansion was placed under a brief security lockdown.
Medics rushed the injured Guardsmen to a trauma centre, where they underwent emergency surgery.
“Two families are shattered and destroyed,” said Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, in an emotional press conference on Thanksgiving morning. As of Thursday, Wolfe and Beckstrom remained in critical condition, fighting for their lives.
Authorities have charged Rahmanullah Lakanwal with multiple counts of assault with intent to kill, among other felonies. A Department of Homeland Security statement identified him as an Afghan citizen who entered the United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, the programme to resettle Afghans who assisted US forces during the 20-year war.
Reflecting on the political fallout, a senior journalist based in Washington, DC, Anwar Iqbal, noted that the shooting strikes at the heart of Donald Trump’s core message: “Immigration must be reduced, and even those already admitted should face renewed scrutiny.” An episode of this magnitude, unfolding on what Americans consider a major holiday, feeds directly into that narrative. Trump’s language-calling the suspect an “animal” and a “terrorist”-is designed to solidify public anger, and Iqbal warned that once such momentum builds, it rarely stops at a single community.
“A review of Afghan evacuees today could easily widen tomorrow, with other immigrant groups pulled into the dragnet. The consequences for diasporas that already live under suspicion could be serious.”
Lakanwal has lived in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children since coming to the US. Investigators say he drove cross-country from Washington state to D.C. shortly before the attack, suggesting a high degree of premeditation.
So far, no manifesto or public statement has emerged to explain a motive, and officials cautioned that the gunman’s exact reasons remain unknown.
Federal counterterrorism agencies are now investigating whether the assailant was inspired or directed by any foreign extremist organisation. “No motive has been established,” D.C. police executive assistant chief Jeffrey Carroll emphasised, though the FBI is treating it as a possible international terror incident out of an “abundance of caution.” Online activity and contacts are being scrutinised to see if Lakanwal had ties to militant networks abroad.
In Washington, the shooting immediately ignited a political maelstrom over immigration and national security. President Donald Trump – who was at his Florida residence when the incident occurred – announced the news himself on social media even before police did. He decried the “monstrous ambush-style attack” and revealed the suspect’s nationality, writing that “the animal that shot the two National Guardsmen” came from Afghanistan. It took only a few hours for him to turn what he called “an act of evil, and an act of terror” into a full-blown argument for an even more intense crackdown on immigration.
The President said he had ordered 500 additional National Guard troops to deploy to D.C. immediately to tighten security around federal sites.
Mr Trump used the occasion to lambaste the Afghan resettlement programme initiated by his predecessor. He noted that Lakanwal was flown into the U.S. during the chaotic evacuation as Kabul fell to the Taliban, calling Afghanistan “a hellhole on earth” and suggesting lax vetting was to blame. The President announced he is directing officials to “re-examine every single alien” who entered from Afghanistan under Biden’s tenure.
Within hours, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) declared an indefinite freeze on processing immigration cases involving Afghan nationals.
However, emerging facts have complicated the partisan narrative around the incident. Lakanwal’s asylum application was not only filed in 2024 but also approved under the Trump administration in April 2025. In other words, while Mr Trump blamed Biden’s policies for admitting the Afghan, it was Trump’s own government that vetted and granted Lakanwal legal refugee status just seven months ago. “This suspect was vetted and cleared by April of this year, under Trump’s watch,” noted Anwar Iqbal, adding that Lakanwal had even passed Department of Defence screenings due to his work with U.S. forces (a common requirement for evacuees).
The attack has rattled Muslim and immigrant communities in the United States, who fear a backlash. Even before Lakanwal’s name was public, speculation about the shooter’s identity prompted anxiety. “We hope this report is incorrect,” a terrified asylee remarked when initial rumours pointed to an Afghan suspect, “if it turns out true, it may trigger a strong backlash against Muslim communities across the United States.”
As news spread, advocacy groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged authorities and the public not to “scapegoat an entire community for the act of one individual,” and to let the investigation reveal facts. Memories are still fresh of past incidents where attacks by self-styled jihadists led to surges in anti-Muslim harassment across the country. Law enforcement in major cities has quietly liaised with Muslim community leaders in recent days, both to convey vigilance against any hate crimes and to gather any intelligence on potential extremist leanings Lakanwal may have exhibited in diaspora circles.
Late Thursday, new details about Lakanwal’s past deepened the intrigue – and potential embarrassment – for U.S. officials. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal had worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, including with the CIA, as a member of a “partner force” in Kandahar. In a blunt statement, Ratcliffe said the Biden administration “justified bringing Lakanwal to America “due to his prior work, including with the CIA, during the war, but argued that “this individual – and so many others – should have never been allowed to come here”
The ambush near the White House – an area normally considered one of the most secure in the world – has jarred the American public on the eve of the holiday season. Across television networks, images played of yellow evidence markers on downtown D.C. sidewalks and heavily armed officers patrolling streets that had been cordoned off. President Trump’s opponents urged restraint and unity. Former President Barack Obama offered prayers for the wounded troops and warned that “violence has no place in America”, appealing for calm as families headed into Thanksgiving.
On Capitol Hill, however, Republican lawmakers quickly rallied behind Trump’s calls for tighter vetting of refugees. Draft legislation is reportedly being prepared by allies of the President that would suspend refugee admissions from not only Afghanistan but also other “high-risk” countries for six months pending a security review.
Even more provocatively, a debate flared online over how to respond to potential Islamophobic backlash. Canadian academic Gad Saad sparked both outrage and applause by sarcastically suggesting that the United States “increase immigration from Islamic countries to show that we’re not going to let the terrorists win.”
For now, the focus remains on the two grievously wounded National Guard members and the investigation into their attacker. As of Friday, no charges beyond the initial assault and weapons counts had been announced, but officials indicated more could come. “Make no mistake – we will throw the book at this individual,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling the ambush “an assault on every American”. If either Guardsman does not survive, prosecutors are prepared to upgrade charges to murder.