Washington DC National Guard shooting suspect faces upgraded charge of 1st-degree murder

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – The suspect in a fatal shooting targeting two US National Guard members in Washington, DC will be charged with first-degree murder following the death of one of the victims, media reports said on Friday.

"There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree," Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, told Fox News.

The shooting occurred around 2.15 pm local time (1915GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut West Metro station in the US capital.

The victims, Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both from the nearby state of West Virginia, were reportedly ambushed.

President Donald Trump confirmed Beckstrom’s death Thursday evening, saying: “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now.”

“The other young man is fighting for his life,” Trump added, referring to Wolfe.

- Suspect drove across country to Washington

The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, allegedly drove across the country from Washington state in the northwestern US to the capital and opened fire “without provocation, ambush style,” Pirro said. He reportedly used a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.

Lakanwal was initially charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill along with criminal possession of a weapon.

According to FBI Director Kash Patel, a search of Lakanwal’s home in Bellingham in Washington state uncovered “numerous electronic devices.”

The FBI is also investigating his “relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” Patel said. US officials said Thursday that Lakanwal had worked with US forces in Afghanistan before August 2021, when the Afghan government fell to Taliban forces.

Law enforcement sources said Lakanwal, originally from Afghanistan, came to the US in 2021, applied for asylum in 2024, and was granted it in April. He reportedly struggled financially due to an expired work permit.

Many former US allies in Afghanistan applied to live in the US after 2021, as they had worked against the Taliban and feared for their safety.

The National Guard was deployed to Washington, DC in August as part of a controversial Trump administration initiative said to target safer streets. Many of the cities involved resisted the deployment, saying it was not needed and created a dangerous precedent in sending the military to American soil without good reason.

Nearly 2,200 members of the guard are currently still stationed in DC.