- Trump calls the attack a ‘terrorist’ act, calls the shooting ‘wild monster’.
- Says security top priority, seeks tight immigration controls.
- Fires Attack on Biden-era Immigration Control Flaws.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Thursday that a member of the National Guard had died after being shot in an ambush by an Afghan national near the White House, an attack that deflected accusations from his administration of failings in Biden-era immigration enforcement and prompted a sweeping review of asylum cases.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds and her fellow guard Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life,” Trump said as investigators conducted what officials said was a terrorism probe after Wednesday’s shooting.
The FBI searched several properties in a widening probe, including a home in Washington state linked to the suspect, who officials said was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the United States in 2021 under a resettlement program.
Agents seized several electronic devices from the residence of the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, including cell phones, laptops and iPads, and interviewed his relatives, FBI Director Kash Patel told a news conference.
US Attorney for Washington, DC, Jeanine Pirro said the suspect drove across the country and then assaulted the guard members while they were on patrol near the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump expresses outrage at the attack
“I want to express the anguish and horror of our entire nation at the terrorist attack yesterday in our nation’s capital where a savage monster shot and killed two West Virginia National Guard service members who were deployed as part of the DC Task Force,” Trump said in a Thanksgiving call to US military service members.
Trump said the suspect’s “cruelty reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than making sure we have full control over the people who enter and remain in our country.”
Armed with a high-powered revolver, a .357 Magnum, the gunman shot one member who fell and then fired again before firing several times at the other member. The gunman was wounded in an exchange of fire with members of the guard before he was arrested. He was in the hospital under heavy guard Thursday, and Trump said he was in serious condition.
The alleged perpetrator acted alone
The alleged assailant, who lived in Washington state with his wife and five children, appeared to have acted alone, said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
