Two National Guard members were shot in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, just one day before Thanksgiving, in what officials described as a “targeted” attack.
The guard members are in critical condition, authorities said. They were shot in the head, according to a U.S. official and a senior official directly briefed on the investigation.
The suspect was also shot and taken to a hospital. He has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, four senior law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation said.
Follow live updates
National Guard members have been based in Washington since August following President Donald Trump’s highly contested directive to curb crime in the nation’s capital.
The shooting
The shooting happened at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station in the area of 17th and High streets NW, just a few minutes’ walk from the White House.
At the time, National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols,” said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
The two National Guard members were “ambushed” by a person who “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members,” Carroll said at a news conference.
The suspect was shot “during the interaction,” Carroll said, though it’s not clear who shot him, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Other National Guard members were in the area and intervened by holding the suspect down after he had been shot until he was taken into custody.
Officials said there no other suspects.
Carroll said both guard members are being treated at a local hospital. Flight tracking data showed a medical helicopter landed on the National Mall, then flew to MedStar Washington Hospital Center following the shooting.
Mayor Muriel Bowser called the shooting “targeted,” saying the suspect who was taken into custody “appeared to target these guardsmen.”
What we know about the victims
The two National Guard members were from the West Virginia National Guard.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially posted on X that both died from their injuries, but he later backtracked and clarified that his office has received “conflicting reports” about their conditions.
Around 2,100 National Guard troops were serving in Washington as of Wednesday morning, including 181 West Virginia National Guard members, the joint task force operating in the city said.
What we know about the suspect
Lakanwal, the man law enforcement sources said has been identified as the suspect, is 29, the four senior law enforcement sources told NBC News.
He has been initially identified as an Afghan national who used a handgun, according to two senior U.S. law enforcement officials.
Lakanwal, who grew up in Khost province, was living in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children, a relative of Lakanwal’s said.
The relative said Lakanwal’s said he arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 after having served in the Afghan army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces troops.
A source familiar with the case and a separate law enforcement source told NBC News that the alleged shooter was granted asylum this year.
What is the status of the investigation?
FBI Director Kash Patel called the attack “a horrendous act of violence.”
He promised at a news conference Wednesday that the perpetrator “will be brought to justice” and said the matter will be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
The FBI will initially investigate the shooting as possible act of terrorism, two senior U.S. law enforcement officials said.
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the shooter was “severely wounded” and will “pay a very steep price.”
Kelly O’Donnell, Ted Oberg, NBC Washington, Mosheh Gains, Gordon Lubold, Gary Grumbach , Laura Strickler, Courtney Kube and Rich Schapiro contributed.
