WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced Friday that charges against a man who authorities say shot two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder.
The announcement comes after the death of one of the soldiers.
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting and President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died.
Pirro’s office said the charges Rahmanullah Lakanwal now faces include one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Pirro said that Lakanwal drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were.
People who knew the suspect say he served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before immigrating to the United States.
Lakanwal, 29, worked in one of the special Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar, according to a resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin. He said Lakanwal was originally from the province and that his brother had worked in the unit as well.
The cousin spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said Lakanwal had started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012 and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist. A former official from the unit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal’s brother was a platoon leader.
Lakanwal 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. Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.
Lakanwal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.
___
AP writer Sarah Brumfield contributed to this report.
