Editor’s note: The West Virginia governor initially said that the 2 Guard members had died but has since said there is conflicting information about their conditions.
Two National Guard members from West Virginia were in critical condition Wednesday after a gunman opened fire on them in an apparent “targeted shooting” near the White House, officials said.In an address Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called the shooting “an act of evil, an act of hatred and and an act of terror,” adding, “It was a crime against our entire nation.”
Trump, citing information from the Department of Homeland Security, said the suspect entered the U.S. from Afghanistan in September 2021, and criticized the prior administration of President Joe Biden.Trump said the shooting “underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” saying the U.S. “must now reexamine every single alien from Afghanistan who has entered our country under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
Trump did not name the suspect, however multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation identified him to ABC News as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, according to three law enforcement sources.
Several sources told ABC News that the FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of international terrorism, suggesting authorities are trying to determine if it may have been inspired by an international terrorist organization.
Law enforcement officials and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. are expected to provide more information on the suspect on Thursday.
The Guard members who were shot are a woman and man, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the situation, and were being treated at local hospitals.
The gunfire broke out when the unidentified suspect rounded a corner, raised his arm with the weapon and opened fire about 2:15 p.m., MPD Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said.
“It appears … to be a lone gunman that raised a firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard,” he said.
