Sarah Beckstrom, West Virginia. National Guard member pronounced dead after dying from mortal gunshot wounds during D.C shooting attack, Trump announces. Promises sweeping changes of immigration program.
Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two national guard troops shot in Washington DC on Wednesday, has died, Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
‘Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person … She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us,’ Trump stated.
Wounded DC National Guard member not expected to survive
.@POTUS announces that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, one of the National Guardsmen savagely attacked yesterday in Washington, D.C., has just passed away.
May God be with her family 🙏 pic.twitter.com/BEbAOxmJme
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 27, 2025
Second National Guard member critically wounded fights for his life
Beckstrom, 20, was one of two members of the national guards shot near the White House in a targeted attack. The other member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.
Beckstrom’s father, Gary had told the New York Times earlier in the day that his daughter was unlikely to recover. ‘I’m holding her hand right now,’ Gary Beckstrom said. ‘She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.’
Both Beckstrom and Wolfe belonged to the West Virginia National Guard, which deployed hundreds of troops to Washington as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission in the capital.
Beckstrom, from Webster Springs, West Virginia, entered service in June 2023.
Afghan national shooter came to US in 2021 as ‘vulnerable’ supporter of US
Identified as the suspect was married father of 5, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who had arrived in the U.S in 2021 as part of Biden’s Operation to assist ‘vulnerable’ Afghan nationals who had assisted the US before pulling out of the Middle east territory in 2021.
He applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23 of this year — and had no known criminal history, a Trump admin official told Reuters.
Lakenwal was one of roughly 76,000 Afghans brought to the US through the resettlement program, ‘Operation Allies Welcome,’ many of whom worked alongside US troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
Trump in the aftermath who has been leading a push to push out illegal immigrants in the US evoked that the D.C shooting would not lead to a revaluation of asylum and green card applications.
Trump vows to change immigration policy
Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for Washington DC, during a Thursday press conference said Lakanwal would be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. However, if the national guard members did not survive, Pirro said, the charges could be increased to murder in the first degree.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, told the news conference the agency is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Law enforcement agencies had executed search warrants at the suspect’s home in Washington and in San Diego, California.
Investigators have no information yet on a motive, but believe Lakanwal acted alone.
As of early November, the D.C. National Guard had the largest number on the ground, with 949 members. In addition to West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama also had forces in the capital early this month.
A federal judge last week ordered an end to the Guard deployment but also put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal.
