Federal investigators are treating the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House as possible international terrorism, after authorities identified the suspect as a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the United States under a U.S. refugee program.
Law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital that Rahmanullah Lakanwal is the man accused of opening fire on the Guardsmen the day before Thanksgiving. Both victims were reported to be in critical condition late Wednesday.
Police say the attack unfolded quickly. Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, told reporters that surveillance footage captured the moment the suspect approached the Guardsmen.
He said the attacker “came around the corner” and immediately opened fire.
Federal investigators are treating the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House as possible international terrorism, after authorities identified the suspect as a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the United States under a U.S. refugee program.
Law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital that Rahmanullah Lakanwal is the man accused of opening fire on the Guardsmen the day before Thanksgiving. Both victims were reported to be in critical condition late Wednesday.
Lakanwal was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, officials said.
As investigators worked to establish motive and reconstruct the events, attention quickly turned to the suspect’s background — including how and why he entered the country and where he had been living in the years prior to the attack.
Arrival in the United States
Records reviewed by officials show Lakanwal entered the United States legally in 2021 through humanitarian parole under Operation Allies Welcome, the federal program launched to evacuate Afghans following the U.S. military withdrawal and the Taliban’s seizure of power.
The initiative was aimed at resettling Afghans deemed vulnerable or at risk — particularly those who had assisted U.S. forces or agencies.
Sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal’s asylum application had been approved during the Trump administration.
Intelligence officials further said he had previously worked in connection with U.S. government entities overseas, including the CIA, while operating as part of a local partner force in Kandahar.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe referenced the circumstances surrounding Lakanwal’s entry in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,”
Life in Washington State
Before arriving in Washington, D.C., authorities say Lakanwal had been living on the West Coast.
Two law enforcement officials and a person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that he had been residing in Washington state.
His former landlord, Kristina Widman, told the outlet that Lakanwal arrived in Bellingham, Washington, about four years ago with his wife and five children.
Investigators have not publicly detailed how the suspect traveled roughly 2,500 miles from Washington state to the nation’s capital in the days before the shooting.
What Investigators Say Happened
Police say the attack unfolded quickly. Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, told reporters that surveillance footage captured the moment the suspect approached the Guardsmen.
He said the attacker “came around the corner” and immediately opened fire.
Other National Guard members rushed to intervene, tackled the suspect, and restrained him, according to officials, who believe the suspect acted alone.
Carroll said it remains unclear whether the suspect was shot by a Guardsman or a responding law enforcement officer. Investigators have not identified a motive.
Reaction From the White House
Former President Donald Trump said the suspect was “severely wounded” before being taken into custody, writing on his Truth Social account Wednesday afternoon.
He later issued a second message condemning the attack.
“(A) heinous assault….an act of evil and [an] act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”
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