Donald Trump has hit out at the suspect arrested after two National Guardsmen were shot in Washington, D.C., in what the president described as a “monstrous ambush-style attack.”
The guardsmen from West Virginia were shot by a lone gunman just north of the White House shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
But the motive of the suspect, identified in reports as a 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains unclear. More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to D.C. in Trump’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump, who has been in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said in an address Wednesday night, “I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”
Here is everything we know about the shooting so far:
The suspect has been identified in US media as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the he is an Afghan who came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war, after the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Lakanwal worked with the CIA while in Afghanistan, the agency’s director John Ratcliffe revealed to Fox News on Wednesday night, as a “member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”.
“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe added.
A close relative said Lakanwal served in the Afghan Army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces, NBC News reported. Sources told the outlet that he was granted asylum earlier this year.
Authorities say the suspect has been living in Washington state, more than 2,600 miles from D.C.
His motives remaining unclear, but two senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News that the FBI will initially investigate the shooting as a possible act of terrorism. Lakanwal is reportedly not cooperating with the investigation so far.
Many details about the suspect are still unknown as he’s still in the hospital receiving treatment, Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters. His injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening.
It’s unclear what type of weapon was used in the shooting.
