Rahmanullah Lakanwal, Suspect In Deadly National Guard Shooting, Expected To Survive, Setting Up Blockbuster DC Criminal Trial
The man accused of unleashing gunfire on two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House is expected to pull through his own injuries, even as one of his alleged victims remains in a critical and fragile state.
A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said the suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is likely to recover. “I think the guy’s going to live. Nobody’s going to be able to say anything and he’s going to stand trial,” the official told The NY Post. The source added, “I know that he underwent surgery the night it happened,” while explaining that the DC court process limits what prosecutors can disclose about Lakanwal, who allegedly opened fire on the Guardsmen on Nov. 26.
One of the ambushed soldiers, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries the following day, passing away on Thanksgiving.
A representative for Joint Task Force — DC, which oversees the mission in the capital, said Saturday there were no new details regarding the condition of the second Guardsman, Andrew Wolfe. He remains hospitalized in critical condition after the attack.
“Andrew is fighting for his life right now,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick James Morrisey said in an interview on Fox & Friends.
On Friday, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that prosecutors will pursue upgraded charges. “There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” she said after Beckstrom’s death.
Reports indicate that a fellow National Guard member—armed only with a pocket knife—managed to subdue the attacker during the chaos, preventing further harm.
Authorities say Lakanwal left his home in Bellingham, Washington, roughly two weeks before the shooting and traveled across the country. Neighbors reported that he had “disappeared” shortly before the ambush. Investigators believe he used a .357 Magnum-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot both Guardsmen, striking Beckstrom in the head and chest.
According to lawyer and strategist Mike Davis, who said he spoke with law enforcement immediately after the attack, one Guardsman “stabbed the suspect in the head multiple times,” while another “shot him in the leg and buttocks.” Lakanwal was nearly unclothed when first responders transported him to a hospital.
Officials have not yet disclosed what procedures doctors performed on him, nor have they provided updated details on his medical status or potential motive.
In the aftermath of the shooting, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal previously worked with the agency in Afghanistan. He entered the United States in 2021 following the US withdrawal from the region, and investigators are now examining when and where radicalization may have taken place.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested today that Lakanwal may have received training on American soil, pointing to the specifics of his immigration documentation. Mullin noted that the suspect’s Special Immigrant Visa “had a special number below it because he was trained and worked with the CIA. There’s actually … a good possibility that he came in and was here and trained on US soil. We don’t know that for a fact but there’s a good possibility,” he told Fox News.
{Matzav.com}
