(WASHINGTON) — As investigators continue to probe what motivated a man to allegedly gun down two West Virginia National Guard members, killing one just blocks from the White House, officials said on Monday that the victim who survived the attack was making positive progress.
The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old married father of five from Bellingham, Washington, allegedly drove cross-country to commit the Thanksgiving eve shooting in the heart of the nation’s capital, officials said.
Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, members of the West Virginia National Guard were “ambushed” while conducting “high visibility patrols” at the time of the attack, according to law enforcement officials. The 20-year-old Beckstrom was killed while the 24-year-old Wolfe was critically injured, authorities said.
During a news conference on Monday afternoon, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Wolfe is in serious condition and is “fighting for his life.”
Morrisey revealed “some positive news” about Wolfe’s condition, saying that when a nurse asked him to give a thumbs up if he could hear, “he did respond.”
“We were told that he also wiggled his toes,” Morrisey said. “So, we take that as a positive sign.”
Passing on a message from Wolfe’s mother, Melody, Morrisey said, “She’s been asking people across the country to pray for her son and those prayers are working.”
Morrisey said that over the weekend, he attended several vigils in West Virginia for the National Guard Members who were attacked.
“People were talking so eloquently about Sarah, who by all accounts is an amazing woman who lifted up people around her with a smile,” Morrisey said. “And from talking to Sarah’s parents and people in the unit, everyone had nothing but incredible things to say about Sarah.”
The suspected gunman is facing one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. It is unclear when those charges will be unsealed.
“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, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Friday on “Fox & Friends.”
Lakanwal, who was shot by a National Guard member who responded to the shooting, remained hospitalized on Monday, officials said.
Profile of the suspect emerges
A profile of the suspect, an Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, is emerging. The investigation indicates he was under financial stress and in the throes of a possible mental health crisis, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Investigators are also looking into whether the recent death of an Afghan commander whom Lakanwal worked with and revered might have sent him spiraling into depression, multiple sources told ABC News.
The suspect previously worked with the U.S. government as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, “which ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe said.
In Afghanistan, the suspect was involved with the Zero Unit, working closely with the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The suspect was a trusted member of that team, which went after U.S. counterterrorism targets, according to sources.
Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 under the Biden administration, law enforcement sources said. He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April, under the Trump administration, according to the sources.
The suspect allegedly had been unable to find a job because he had an expired work permit, according to a source familiar with the suspect’s circumstances.
Lakanwal, who had become more isolated in the past few months and was growing desperate, could not pay rent or food and was relying on others, the source added.
When asked Thursday about when the suspect was granted asylum, FBI Director Kash Patel did not answer, instead referring to a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
He was likely vetted before being granted asylum this year. According to Noem, there have been 8,000 such individuals since Trump took office. Noem and Patel have both suggested in recent congressional testimony that the administration had carefully scrutinized all of them.
“During my tenure, we are going through the databases to make sure that no known or suspected terrorists enter this country to harm our nation,” Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee in September.
During an interview on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Noem said, “Since he’s been here, we believe he could have been radicalized in his home community, his home state.”
“As we continue to talk with his family and his contacts, more details will be revealed and we’ll release those when it’s appropriate,” Noem said.
Potential act of international terrorism
Sources said the FBI is currently investigating the shooting as a potential act of international terrorism, suggesting authorities are trying to determine if it may have been inspired by an international terrorist organization.
But thus far, authorities have not publicly released any specific evidence tying Lakanwal to a terrorist organization and no terror charges have been filed.
The investigation into the deadly shooting is still in its early phases.
FBI Director Kash Patel said officials are looking into whether the suspect had any associates overseas.
Drove across the country to the nation’s capital
Officials said the suspect drove from his residence in Washington state to the nation’s capital prior to the shooting.
“Somebody drove across the country to Washington, D.C., to attack America,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference last week.
A search warrant was conducted at the suspect’s home in Bellingham, Washington, where officials found “numerous electronic devices,” Patel said.
Patel added that this is a “coast-to-coast investigation.” Officials are interviewing individuals at the suspect’s home and in San Diego, where the alleged shooter has ties, Patel said.
In addition to his wife and children, sources familiar with the investigation said the suspect has a brother in the United States.
Guardsmen were ambushed by the suspect
Pirro said the gunman, who “opened fire without provocation, ambush style,” struck one of the victims, leaned over and shot the individual again. The suspect then shot the other Guard member “several times.”
The weapon used in the shooting was a .357 Smith &Wesson revolver, officials said.
The suspect allegedly got shot by a third member of the National Guard and then was subdued, but officials did not say how many shots were fired at or by the suspect.
In an address on Wednesday night, Trump confirmed that the suspected gunman is believed to have entered the U.S. from Afghanistan.
“It was a crime against our entire nation,” he said. “It was a crime against humanity.”
Trump said the shooting “underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation” and the U.S. “must now reexamine every single alien from Afghanistan who has entered our country under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
The Guard members, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, were conducting “high visibility patrols” at the time of the attack, according to law enforcement officials.
A motive has yet to be determined; however, Bowser said the individual “appeared to target” the Guard members.
“What we know is that this is a targeted shooting and one individual appeared to target these guardsmen,” according to Bowser.
Patel said the case is being carried out as an attack on a federal law enforcement officer, adding that the victims are “heroes.”
The National Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s federal takeover of the city in August. There are 2,188 National Guard personnel assigned to D.C., according to the most recent update.
ABC News’ Cindy Smith and Martha Raddatz contributed to this report.
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