National Guard member dies after shooting in Washington DC
US President Donald Trump said one of the two National Guard members shot in Washington DC on Wednesday has died.
President Trump said Thursday that 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries.
The second National Guard member shot was 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. He was in critical condition, officials said Thursday morning.
Both were shot at point-blank range near Farragut Square in the city center just after 2pm EST (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Police arrested one of the suspects in the attack, 29-year-old Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
President Trump confirmed Beckstrom’s death during his Thanksgiving call with US troops on Thursday evening.
“One of the guards we’re talking about, Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, is a very respected, young, amazing person… She just passed away. She’s no longer with us,” he said.
Ms. Beckstrom volunteered to work in the nation’s capital over the Thanksgiving holiday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News after the shooting.
Both troopers were on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, an area where many office workers hang around at lunchtime.
The fact that the shooting took place just blocks from the White House meant that scores of law enforcement officers quickly arrived on the scene to treat the two victims and capture the gunman.
Police sources speaking to CBS News, BBC’s news partner in the USA, said that the suspect was shot four times while being arrested.
Mr. Lakanwal arrived in the United States in 2021, officials said.
Beckstrom will be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, as well as possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a press conference Thursday morning ahead of news of Ms. Beckstrom’s death.
“We pray that they survive and that the top charge is not first-degree murder,” Pirro said. he added. “But make no mistake, if they don’t, that’s exactly what the charge will be: first-degree murder.”
Attorney General Bondi told Fox News on Thursday that her office would seek the death penalty against the suspect, calling him “a monster who should not be in our country.”
Mr. Lakanwal reportedly came to the United States under a program for Afghans called Operation Allies Welcome, which offers special immigration protections to Afghans following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was accepted earlier this year, an official told CBS.
