Suspect who drove from WA and shot National Guard members faces murder charge; US halts all asylum decisions

Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia announced Friday, while investigators continued to seek a motive.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, now include one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.

The Trump administration said Friday it is halting all asylum decisions and has also paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission that federalized the D.C. police force. The president also has deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges.

Asylum decisions halted

Trump called the shooting a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has said he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country.

The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on the social platform X that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Experts say the U.S. has rigorous vetting systems for asylum-seekers. Asylum claims made from inside the country through USCIS have long faced backlogs. Critics say the slow down has been exacerbated during the Trump administration.

In an interview on Fox News, Pirro said there are “many charges to come” beyond the upgraded murder charge. She said her heart goes out to the family of Beckstrom, who volunteered to serve and “ended up being shot ambush-style on the cold streets of Washington, D.C.”

Pirro said officials have been working around the clock to determine the suspect’s motive. Investigators are executing warrants in the state of Washington, where Lakanwal lived, and other parts of the country.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited National Guard troops in the nation’s capital Friday and led them in a prayer for Beckstrom and Wolfe.

“Some of you may have known her,” Hegseth said of Beckstrom. “Obviously a beautiful human being and a great American willing to serve her country brutally targeted.”

Hegseth said he and his wife briefly visited Wolfe on Thursday night “to be there, lay hands on him, pray over him.”

Wolfe remains in “very critical condition,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Friday. He ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in recognition of Beckstrom’s death.

Lakanwal entered the US in 2021

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.

Mohammad Sherzad, a neighbor of Lakanwal’s, told the AP in a phone interview Friday that Lakanwal was polite, quiet and spoke very little English.

Sherzad said he attended the same mosque as Lakanwal and had heard from other members that Lakanwal was struggling to find work. Some of his children attended the same school as Lakanwal’s children, Sherzad said.

“He was so quiet and the kids were so polite, they were so playful. But we didn’t see anything bad about him,” Sherzad said. Sherzad said Lakanwal “disappeared” about two weeks ago.

Lakanwal had briefly worked as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex, which allows people to use their own cars to deliver packages, a company spokesperson shared with The Associated Press. Lakanwal delivered packages from the end of July to the end of August and hadn’t been active since.

Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that resettled 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.

In a Thanksgiving address to the troops Thursday, Trump said that Lakanwal “went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts.”

Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit, known as 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.

Zero Units were paramilitary units manned by Afghans but backed by the CIA that also served in front-line fighting with CIA paramilitary officers. Activists had attributed abuses to the units. They played a key role in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country, providing security around Kabul International Airport as the Americans withdrew from the country.

On Wednesday night, Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who had entered under the Biden administration initiative that brought roughly 76,000 people to the country, many of whom had worked as interpreters and translators.

The program has faced intense scrutiny from Trump and others over allegations of gaps in the vetting process, even as advocates say there was extensive vetting and the program offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.

Beckstrom ‘exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism’

Beckstrom had enlisted in 2023, the same year she graduated high school, and served with distinction as a military police officer with the 863rd Military Police Company, the West Virginia National Guard said in a statement.

“She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism,” the statement said, adding that Beckstrom “volunteered to serve as part of Operation D.C. Safe and Beautiful, helping to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital.”

The president called Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.”

Associated Press journalists Sarah Brumfield, Siddiqullah Alizai, Elena Becatoros, Randy Herschaft, Cedar Attanasio, and Hallie Golden contributed to this report