A 29-year-old Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal of Bellingham, Washington, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with what authorities describe as an “ambush-style shooting” that targeted two members of the West Virginia National Guard in Washington, D.C., on the eve of Thanksgiving. He was formally charged on December 2, 2025.

Twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom died of her injuries on November 27, while Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition from the shooting that occurred blocks away from the White House.

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Tuesday found probable cause to support charges that Lakanwal committed first-degree murder while “armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm” during a crime of violence. The judge ordered that Lakanwal be held without bond pending a preliminary hearing, noted a statement from U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro. 

According to the U.S. Attorney, Lakanwal was injured during the incident and is being treated at a local hospital, where he remains under guard.

Court documents indicate that Lakanwal drove from his home in Washington state to the nation’s capital. On Wednesday, November 26, at approximately 2:13 p.m., he arrived near 17th and I Streets NW, close to the Farragut West Metro Station, and opened fire on the two National Guard members without provocation. Other guardsmen at the scene returned fire, quickly subduing the suspect, according to the statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department are jointly investigating the case. The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Ballentine, Ariel Dean, Christopher Tortorice, and Laura Bach, with additional support from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough.

Officials emphasized that the charges are allegations and that “all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

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