The brazen daytime shooting of two National Guard members within the nation’s capital by a person authorities said is an Afghan national has raised multiple questions.
That features the condition of the wounded troops and details in regards to the suspect and his motive for the attack a day before Thanksgiving.
Here’s what we all know up to now, and what we don’t know:
Condition of the National Guard members
FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the 2 Guard members were hospitalized in critical condition.
They belong to the West Virginia National Guard, which deployed lots of of troops to the nation’s capital as a part of President Donald Trump’s crime-fighting mission that involved taking up the local police department.
There have been nearly 2,200 Guard members in D.C. for the mission.
Unknown up to now are the names and more details in regards to the two troops who were wounded.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially posted on social media that two of his state’s Guard members were killed. He later walked that back, saying his office was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition. Morrisey has not elaborated.
Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting.”
Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said video reviewed by investigators showed the assailant “got here across the corner” and immediately began firing on the troops. The suspect opened fire with a revolver, based on a law enforcement official.
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Not less than one Guard member exchanged gunfire with the shooter, one other law enforcement official said. Each weren’t authorized to debate the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Troops ran over and held down the shooter, Carroll said, and he was taken into custody. Authorities consider he was the one gunman.
Carroll said that it was not clear whether certainly one of the Guard members or a law enforcement officer shot the suspect and that investigators up to now had no information on a motive.
The suspect’s wounds weren’t believed to be life-threatening, certainly one of the officials said.
The suspect and his pathway to the US
The suspect is believed to be a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the U.S. in September 2021 and has been living in Washington state, two law enforcement officials and an individual conversant in the matter told The Associated Press.
He got here to the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of 1000’s of Afghans after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said.
Law enforcement identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, but authorities were still working to totally confirm his background, they said. The people couldn’t discuss details of an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Lakamal arrived in Bellingham, Washington, about 4 years ago together with his wife and five children, based on his former landlord Kristina Widman.
They were amongst about 800 Afghan refugees that settled in Washington state under Operation Allies Welcome with the financial support of the U.S. government. Amongst people who partnered with federal agencies to sponsor the Afghan families was World Relief, a faith-based group that helped the refugees with finding housing, employment training and language classes as they settled within the Seattle area.
It’s unclear how Lakanwal might need traveled to the nation’s capital, which is about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away.
More National Guard troops
Soon after the shooting, Trump said he would send 500 more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. It’s not clear where the extra troops would come from.
As of early November, the D.C. National Guard had the most important number on the bottom with 949. Along with West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama also had forces within the capital early this month.
A federal judge last week ordered an end to the Guard deployment but in addition put her order on hold for 21 days to permit the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal.
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