What we know about the National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C.

Two National Guard members were shot and seriously injured Wednesday just blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the next day that one of them died on Thursday and the other remained in critical condition. The suspect, an Afghan national, has been detained.

In response to the attack, Trump said he would deploy an additional 500 troops to the streets of the capital.

Just after 14:00 ET (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday, two National Guard members from West Virginia were shot at close range near Farragut Square in downtown Washington, DC.

The troopers were conducting a high-visibility patrol at the corner of 17th and 1st Streets, an area where many office workers hang out during their lunch breaks.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately started shooting”, adding that soldiers were “ambushed”.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the incident was a targeted attack.

The shooting took place just blocks from the White House, meaning numerous law enforcement officials were quickly on scene to treat the two victims and apprehend the shooter.

Guard members were taken to hospital, where one later died.

Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when he was not at the White House.

The victims were 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, both uniformed members of the West Virginia National Guard.

Ms. Backstrom died on Thursday, Trump said during a Thanksgiving phone call with U.S. military personnel.

He said Mr. Wolf remained in critical condition after being shot multiple times.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that Ms. Backstrom volunteered to work in the nation’s capital over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“She, like many guardsmen, volunteered so that others could go home to their families,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security named the suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal and described him as a “criminal alien from Afghanistan.”

Law enforcement sources told BBC America partner CBS News that the suspect was shot four times during his arrest.

Officials said Mr. Lakanvar, 29, was not cooperating with authorities.

He is said to have come to the United States in 2021. He lives on the other side of the country in Washington state with his wife and five children.

Mr. Lakanwal reportedly came to the United States in September 2021 under an Afghan program called Operation Welcome Allies that existed under President Joe Biden’s term.

This came just after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. As the Taliban regain control of the country, there are fears of reprisals for those who cooperate with the United States.

The Congressional Research Service estimates that about 77,000 Afghans entered the United States under special immigration protections about a year after the U.S. withdrawal.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Mr. Lakanwal had ties to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said he had cooperated with the intelligence agency.

An official told CBS News that Mr. Lacanval applied for asylum in 2024 and was approved earlier this year.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., said the initial assault charge against the suspect would be upgraded to first-degree murder.

Initially, the government announced that Lakanval would be charged with three counts of armed assault with intent to kill and possession of a firearm during a violent crime.

“This was a premeditated murder. Someone was ambushing people at gunpoint who didn’t know what was going to happen,” Pirro told Fox & Friends on Friday. “This is a homicide, this is the murder we are investigating right now.”

Hours after the shooting, Trump released a video of him speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

He described the shootings as an “act of terror” and a “crime against humanity.”

Trump said he would send 500 additional National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where there are currently nearly 2,200 troops.

The National Guard is a reserve force that can be activated as a military force, but has limited powers as they cannot enforce laws or make arrests.

Trump deployed the military in August to address what he said was an “out of control” crime problem in the capital.

Overall crime in the capital has dropped since the troops were dispatched, which Trump attributes to their presence on the streets.

The Trump administration also highlighted the suspects’ backgrounds and announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening the U.S. approach to immigrants from Afghanistan and other countries.

On Wednesday, the day of the shooting, the agency suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans.

The next day, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it would re-examine green cards (U.S. permanent residence cards) issued to individuals from 19 countries who immigrated to the United States.

Trump went on to say he would “permanently halt” all immigration to the United States from “Third World countries” – a term used in the past to describe poorer developing countries.

On Friday, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow posted on