Trump says National Guard Sarah Beckstrom dies after shooting, as ambush becomes political flashpoint

A National Guard member died after being ambushed by an Afghan national near the White House, President Donald Trump said Thursday. The attack prompted accusations from his administration about failures in the Biden-era immigration investigation and led to a sweeping review of asylum cases.

As investigators conducted what authorities said was a terrorism investigation following Wednesday’s shooting, Trump said 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries and fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life.”

In a widening investigation, the FBI has searched multiple properties, including a home in Washington state, linked to the suspect, who authorities say was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the United States as part of a relocation program in 2021.
Agents seized multiple electronic devices, including cellphones, laptops and iPads, from the home of the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, and interviewed his relatives, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference.

The suspect criss-crossed the country and then ambushed Guard members on patrol near the White House on Wednesday afternoon, said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C.

In his Thanksgiving call to US military members, Trump said: “I want to express our nation’s pain and horror at the terrorist attack that took place in our capital yesterday, in which a brutal monster was shot by two soldiers in the West Virginia National Guard assigned as part of the DC Task Force.” Armed with a .357 Magnum, a powerful handgun, the gunman shot one member who fell and then fired again before shooting the second member multiple times. The gunman was injured in a shootout with Guard members before being arrested. He was in the hospital under heavy security on Thursday, and Trump said his condition was serious.

Jeff Carroll, deputy chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, said the suspected attacker, who lives in Washington state with his wife and five children, appeared to have acted alone. (Reporting by Leah Douglas, Jana Winter, Phil Stewart, Ted Hesson, Lucia Mutikani, Jasper Ward and Tim Reid; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali, Jeff Mason, Steve Gorman; Writing by Julia Harte, Rod Nickel and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Ross Colvin, Deepa Babington and Diane Craft)