National Guard members shot in ambush-style attack in DC were sworn in just 24 hours earlier

WASHINGTON, DC: Two young National Guard soldiers who had been sworn in less than a day earlier were ambushed on the streets of Washington, DC, on Wednesday, November 26, in a shocking attack that has rattled the nation.

Authorities confirmed the victims as Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Backstrom, 20, both of whom were on duty inside the city when the gunman approached them “without provocation.”

Backstrom succumbed to her injuries on Thursday, while Wolfe is "fighting for his life," President Donald Trump said. 

Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly opened fire ‘ambush style’ with a .357 revolver

Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro identified Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national and former soldier, as the alleged gunman.

She said he “opened fire on the two without provocation, ambush-style,” using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. Describing the brutal moments of the attack, Pirro said, “One guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the guardsman again. Another guardsman is struck several times.”

Fellow guardsmen nearby immediately engaged the suspect, “neutralizing the threat and subduing him at the scene,” Pirro added. Lakanwal was taken into custody and remains under heavy guard at a hospital.

He currently faces charges including assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, though prosecutors say upgraded charges are likely following one victim’s death.

Pirro noted, “We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.”

Suspect reportedly drove cross-country from Washington state before attack

According to authorities, Rahmanullah Lakanwal drove across the country from Bellingham, Washington, nearly 2,700 miles, before arriving in DC and carrying out the shooting. Pirro said it was “too soon to say” what his motives were, but investigators are analyzing his movements and communications leading up to the attack.

Lakanwal was brought to the US in 2021 as part of President Joe Biden’s "Operation Allies Welcome," which evacuated tens of thousands of Afghan nationals following the American withdrawal.

Before arriving in the US, he had worked with American forces in Afghanistan, including the CIA, according to former intelligence director John Ratcliffe, who said Lakanwal served “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar” before the relationship deteriorated after the chaotic withdrawal.

Victims were part of Trump’s effort to clean up DC streets

Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Backstrom were deployed as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing effort to clean up crime-ridden areas of Washington, DC, an initiative that has increased National Guard presence in the capital. Following the shooting, the administration ordered 500 additional Guard members into the city.

Trump reacted sharply to the shooting, blaming Biden’s refugee policies for allowing the suspect into the country. “No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival,” he said.

The POTUS added, “The suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in.”

Trump further claimed Lakanwal’s immigration status was extended under legislation signed by Biden, calling the former president “a disastrous president, the worst in our history.”