Summary
An Afghan national accused of opening fire on two National Guard members in Washington, DC, will now face first-degree murder charges, a US official announced on Friday, marking a significant escalation in the legal response to the attack that left one soldier dead.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, DC, identified the accused as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national whom US media have described as a member of the “Zero Units,” a CIA-backed counterterrorism group.
“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” Jeanine Pirro said during an appearance on Fox News’ Fox & Friends.
She added, “It is a premeditated murder. There was an ambush with a gun toward people who didn’t know what was coming.”
President Donald Trump confirmed that Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed to the US capital as part of his crime-crackdown initiative, died from her injuries. He said the second victim, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was “fighting for his life.”
Pirro echoed that sentiment, saying, “We still have hope,” and noting that Wolfe remains in critical condition as authorities work closely with his family.
According to Pirro, Lakanwal allegedly used a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver to open fire on a team of guardsmen on patrol just blocks from the White House. She said he had been residing in the state of Washington before driving across the country to the nation’s capital.
The attack, occurring on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, has intensified debate around three highly sensitive political issues—Trump’s deployment of military personnel domestically, immigration policy, and the legacy of America’s war in Afghanistan.
Following the shooting, Trump vowed to halt migration from what he described as “third-world countries” and signaled plans to reverse “millions” of admissions granted during Joe Biden’s administration, reinforcing his hard-line anti-migration agenda.
Senior officials—including the heads of the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security—stated that Lakanwal gained entry to the US without adequate vetting due to what they characterized as lax asylum policies introduced after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan under former president Biden.
However, AfghanEvac, an organization involved in resettling Afghans after the withdrawal, disputed these claims, saying the migrants they assisted had undergone “some of the most extensive security vetting” of any group entering the United States.
What You Should Know
This case has quickly evolved from an assault investigation into a high-stakes political and national security flashpoint.
It ties together a fatal shooting of US servicemembers, intensified scrutiny of post-war Afghan resettlement, and a renewed political clash over immigration policies under different administrations.
The incident is now driving national conversation around security vetting, the use of military forces in domestic roles, and the lasting consequences of America’s exit from Afghanistan.
