Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who arrived in the US in 2021, has been identified as the shooter.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump declared that one of the two National Guard members who had been shot the day before close to the White House had passed away and the other was "fighting for his life."
On November 26, a gunman opened fire on Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and fellow National Guard member Andrew Wolfe, 24, while they were on patrol just steps from the White House. At the time, Trump was not in the White House.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who arrived in the US in 2021, has been identified as the shooter. The incident has been referred to by Trump as a "terrorist attack."
What was the course of the attack?
According to the Associated Press, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect, drove across the nation to carry out a "ambush-style" attack, according to US attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia. Lakanwal fired at the soldiers with a Smith & Wesson .357 handgun.
The Afghan national "came around the corner" and began firing at the soldiers right away, according to the footage examined by investigators, according to Jeffrey Carroll, executive assistant to the chief of police in Washington, DC.
At least one Guard member engaged the gunman with gunfire, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
According to Carroll, the shooter was apprehended after troops rushed over and restrained him.
Although the reason for the shooting is unknown, authorities think Lakanwal was the single gunman.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal is who?
Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, an initiative of former US President Joe Biden's administration that relocated and evacuated thousands of Afghans after the disorderly US pullout from the country.
Approximately 76,000 persons were brought to the United States as a result of the effort; many of them having previously served as interpreters and translators for US military and diplomats.
Lakanwal requested refuge under the Biden administration, but it was granted after Trump took office.
Without providing specifics, CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated in a statement that Lakanwal had previously served with the US government, including the CIA, "as a member of a partner force in Kandahar" before coming to the United States.
Lakanwal was originally from the eastern Afghan province of Khost, according to a resident who claimed to be Lakanwal's cousin. Speaking to The Associated Press under the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, the cousin said that Lakanwal had served in a unique Afghan Army force called Zero Units, which are paramilitary groups supported by the CIA but manned by Afghans.
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