Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, is suspected of shooting two National Guard personnel close to the White House.
The shooting near the White House on Wednesday, which US President Donald Trump called a "terrorist act," left two members of the West Virginia National Guard seriously injured. An Afghan national was identified as the suspect.
On Wednesday afternoon, West Virginia National Guard men stationed in the US capital of Washington were shot a few blocks away from the White House.
Who is the suspect in the shooting in Washington?
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the attacker, "came around the corner" and opened fire on the soldiers, according to Jeffrey Carroll, executive assistant DC police chief. Carroll referenced footage that investigators had examined.
According to Associated Press news agency Carroll, the 29-year-old suspect in the shooting, which happened close to a metro station about two blocks northwest of the White House, was apprehended when nearby military rushed over and restrained him after he was shot.
According to a law enforcement officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, the news agency stated that suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal's gunshot wounds were not thought to be life-threatening.
The suspect is an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Joe Biden administration initiative that relocated and evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans following the US exit from the country, according to officials quoted in the paper.
About 76,000 persons were brought to the US by the Biden administration program, many of whom served as interpreters and translators for US military and diplomats.
collaborated with US soldiers
According to two law enforcement officials and a person familiar with the situation, Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been residing in Washington state, but police have not yet determined his past.
According to a suspect's family, Lakanwal has five boys and a wife, NBC reported.
According to the close relative, the Lakanwal served in Afghanistan with US Special Forces soldiers prior to arriving in the US in September 2021.
According to the relative, Lakanwal spent a portion of his ten years in the Afghan army stationed at a facility in Kandahar.
Donald Trump said the suspect got in via the Biden administration's "infamous flights" from Afghanistan, "a hellhole on Earth," when addressing the Washington shooting at the White House on Wednesday.
The Biden scheme has subsequently been blasted by Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over breaches in the vetting process and the rapidity of admissions, while those promoting the initiative argue it offered a lifeline to people at fear of Taliban reprisals.
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