National Guard shooting suspect worked with CIA in Afghanistan, drove across US for attack
Pirro claimed that the defendant shot at a guard, the guard fell to the ground, then bent down and shot the guard again. He then shot the other guard “several times” before being shot and subdued by other nearby guards.
Pirro identified the two guards as Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, from the West Virginia National Guard. Wolfe remained in critical condition on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
Previously, Sarah’s father, Gary Beckstrom, had warned that his daughter’s chances of recovery were low. New York Times reported.
“I’m holding your hand right now,” he said when reached by phone. “He has a mortal wound. There will be no healing.” He refused to talk further.
Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, National Guard troops, were shot and killed in Washington, DC.Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office via AP
Before Beckstrom died, Pirro said the suspect would be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but those charges would be upgraded to first-degree murder if one of the victims died.
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He said the suspect’s purpose was not yet clear. “There are areas we are looking at but aren’t ready to say yet.”
FBI director Kash Patel said the agency is leading a broad-based international terrorism investigation that will investigate the suspect’s associates in the United States and abroad.
He executed multiple search warrants, including a search of the suspect’s home in Bellingham, a small city in Washington state in the northwestern corner of the country. Lakanwal lived with his wife and possibly five children, Pirro said.
The horrific crime, which occurred in central Washington at 2.15pm on Wednesday (6.15am AEDT on Thursday), quickly sparked a backlash against the Biden administration’s acceptance of nearly 190,000 Afghans under Operation Allied Welcome and its follow-on programme, Enduring Welcome.
Pirro called it a “ridiculous” process. “This is what happens in this country when people are allowed in who have not been properly vetted,” he said.
Flowers were left at the scene where two National Guard soldiers were shot in downtown Washington.Credit: access point
Vice President J.D. Vance, who voiced concerns about the uninspected resettlement of Afghans in 2021, said friends at the time accused him of racism. “It was a revealing moment,” he said. “These should not have happened in our country”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is immediately halting processing all requests for Afghan citizens pending further review of security and investigative protocols.
President Donald Trump had previously ordered the deployment of 500 more National Guard soldiers to the streets of Washington and announced that all Afghans who arrived under the previous administration would be reviewed.
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“Under the Biden presidency, we must re-examine every foreigner entering our country from Afghanistan and take all necessary measures to remove from the country all foreigners who do not belong here and do not benefit our country,” he said.
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