The suspect within the “focused” capturing of two Nationwide Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., will now face prices upgraded to first-degree homicide after President Donald Trump introduced the death of one of the victims late Thursday, U.S. Legal professional for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro mentioned Friday.
“There are definitely many extra prices to return, however we’re upgrading the preliminary prices of assault to homicide within the first diploma,” Pirro mentioned Friday morning on Fox Information’ “Fox & Associates.”
The suspected gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was beforehand charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill whereas armed and felony possession of a weapon, officers mentioned throughout a press convention on Thursday.
Nationwide Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe.
U.S. Division of Justice
Lakanwal is accused of firing at two Nationwide Guard members, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, on Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect allegedly “opened hearth with out provocation, ambush fashion,” struck one of many victims, leaned over and shot the person once more, earlier than firing on the different Nationwide Guard member “a number of occasions,” Pirro mentioned on Thursday.
Video obtained by The Wall Road Journal reveals the second of the capturing. The footage briefly reveals Lakanwal brandishing a gun earlier than he runs off-camera. A Nationwide Guardsmen will also be seen within the video operating and reloading his gun.
Video obtained by The Wall Road Journal reveals the second Rahmanullah Lakanwal opened hearth at two Nationwide Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26, 2025.
Obtained by The Wall Road Journal
Trump introduced on Thursday night that Beckstrom, an Military specialist, had died.
“She’s simply handed away. She’s not with us. She’s wanting down at us proper now,” Trump mentioned of Beckstrom. “Her mother and father are together with her. It is simply occurred.”
U.S. service members line the streets of Washington, D.C., throughout an honor escort, often known as a fallen soldier procession, for U.S. Military Spc. Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia Nationwide Guard, Nov. 27, 2025.
Billy Blankenship/Joint Job Power DC
Andrew Wolfe, a U.S. Air Power employees sergeant, stays in crucial situation.
“The opposite younger man is preventing for his life,” Trump mentioned. “He is in very unhealthy form. He is preventing for his life.”
The capturing came about round 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday close to the Farragut West Metro station.
Pirro mentioned the suspect, an Afghan nationwide, allegedly drove from Washington state to focus on the guard members, opening hearth with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
U.S. Division of Justice
The suspect’s motive remains to be unclear, in accordance with officers.
A search warrant was carried out on the suspect’s house in Bellingham, Washington, the place officers discovered “quite a few digital units,” FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned on Thursday.
Patel additionally famous the FBI acquired affirmation from the Division of Protection and CIA “that the topic had a relationship in Afghanistan with accomplice forces.”
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks throughout a press convention with U.S. Legal professional for D.C. Jeanine Pirro and different authorities concerning the capturing of two Nationwide Guard members, in Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
“We’re absolutely investigating that side of his background as effectively, to incorporate any identified associates which can be both abroad or right here in the USA of America,” Patel mentioned.
Lakanwal is believed to be from Afghanistan and got here to the USA in 2021 below the Biden administration, regulation enforcement sources mentioned. He utilized for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April, likely after being vetted, below the Trump administration, in accordance with the sources.
A makeshift memorial has been arrange in honor of the 2 Nationwide Guard service members shot close to the Farragut West Metro Station in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 28, 2025, two days after a capturing killed one Nationwide Guard member and critically wounded one other.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Photos
The Nationwide Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital as a part of Trump’s federal takeover of the town and crime crackdown in August. In accordance with the latest replace, there have been 2,188 Nationwide Guard personnel assigned to D.C.
Folks place flowers in a makeshift memorial arrange after two Nationwide Guard members have been shot, close to the White Home, in Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
A day earlier than the capturing, throughout the traditional turkey pardoning on the White Home, Trump touted his administration’s takeover of D.C. streets. He mentioned it was “considered one of our most unsafe locations anyplace in the USA. It’s now thought-about a completely secure metropolis.”
“You might stroll down any avenue in Washington and you are going to be simply effective. And I wish to thank the Nationwide Guard. I wish to thanks for the job you’ve got performed right here is unimaginable,” Trump mentioned on the occasion.
