The Afghan charged with shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday nearly killed a third before he was captured, police said in court records.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal was seen on surveillance video staking out the area near the Farragut West metro station for roughly a minute before shouting “Allahu Akbar” and opening fire, according to a charging document filed Tuesday. The charging document reveals Lakanwal shot soldier guardsman Beckstrom in the back of the head before delivering another headshot to guardsman Andrew Wolfe. Lakanwal then chased and shot at an unnamed National Guard major, the document alleges.
Lakanwal, who made his first appearance in local court Tuesday, is charged with murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and assault with intent to kill while armed, leading a judge to order him jailed without bond. Beckstrom died from her wounds on Thanksgiving Day, and Wolfe is fighting for his life under medical care, officials said. The guardsmen were on a routine patrol that day under President Donald Trump’s directives to crack down on crime in Washington.
Court records do not yet list an attorney for Lakanwal.
A National Guard member identified in the document as “Reynolds” quickly “engaged” the shooter after the shots rang out, and the suspect was shot and fell to the ground. An unnamed guardsman then “jumped on the defendant as the defendant was attempting to reload,” police wrote. Reynolds, the unnamed National Guard member and Secret Service officers then worked together to restrain the shooter, the charging document says.
Lakanwal came to the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration’s poorly vetted humanitarian parole program for migrants, a source familiar with the matter previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He also served in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counterterrorism program during the War in Afghanistan, USA Today reported.
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