Afghan in custody after shooting of 2 National Guard members

WASHINGTON

An Afghan national has been accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence at a time when the presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.

FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Nov. 26 afternoon's shooting.

The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.

The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington.

The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official.

The 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said.

The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.

The suspect, who has been living in Washington state, has been identified by law enforcement officials as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, but authorities were still working to fully confirm his background, two law enforcement officials and a person familiar with the matter said.

In a video message released on social media on Nov. 26 night, President Donald Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.

“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it has suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans pending a review of "security and vetting protocols."

Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the local police force and sent in National Guard troops from eight states and the District of Columbia. The order expired a month later, but the troops remained.

Nearly 2,200 troops currently are assigned to the joint task force operating in the city, according to the government’s latest update.

The guard members have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and been assigned to pick up trash and guard sports events.