2 National Guard soldiers critically wounded in ‘targeted’ attack near White House

WASHINGTON - Two National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded in Washington on Nov 26 near the White House in what officials described as a targeted ambush.

The suspect is in custody after suffering gunshot wounds during the attack.

Investigators identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national from Washington state. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the official said.

Lakanwal arrived in the US in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era programme to resettle thousands of Afghans who helped the US and were vulnerable to reprisals from the ruling Taliban after the US withdrew from Afghanistan.

He was processed through Washington Dulles International Airport on Sept 8, 2021.

Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23, 2025, three months after US President Donald Trump took office. He has no criminal history.

Mr Trump, who was at his resort in Florida at the time of the attack, released a prerecorded video late on Nov 26 calling the shooting “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror”.

He said his administration

would “re-examine” all Afghans

who came to the US under then president Joe Biden.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency later announced an immediate and indefinite halt to the “processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals” pending a review of security and vetting protocols.

The two soldiers, members of the West Virginia National Guard, were part of a “high-visibility patrol” around 2.15pm, a few blocks from the White House. The suspect came around a corner and “ambushed” them, Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said at a news briefing.

After an exchange of gunfire, other National Guard troops were able to subdue the shooter, he said.

The two wounded soldiers were in critical condition at local hospitals, Federal Bureau of Investigation chief Kash Patel said.

“This is a targeted attack,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the briefing.

The shooter appeared to have acted alone, officials said.

Mr Trump ordered 500 more National Guard soldiers deployed to Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters, joining about 2,200 already in the city as part of the President’s contentious immigration and crime crackdown targeting Democratic-led cities.

In a social media post, Mr Trump called the suspected shooter an “animal” who would “pay a very steep price” and praised the National Guard.

Vice-President J.D. Vance, who was in Kentucky on Nov 26, said in a post on X that the shooting proved that the Trump administration’s immigration policy was justified.

“We must redouble our efforts to deport people with no right to be in our country,” he said.

Critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policy say it has

employed illegally harsh tactics

and swept up immigrants indiscriminately, including some with no criminal history and others here legally.

Chaotic scene

The shooting unfolded near Farragut Square, a popular lunch spot for office workers just a few blocks from the White House. The park, where light posts are wrapped in wreaths and bows for the holiday season, is flanked by fast-casual restaurants and a coffee shop, as well as two metro stops.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene after shots were fired, with pedestrians fleeing.

Mr Mike Ryan, 55, said he was on his way to buy lunch nearby when he heard what sounded like gunfire. He ran half a block away and heard another round of apparent gunfire.

When he made his way back to the scene, he saw two National Guard soldiers on the ground across the street, with people trying to resuscitate one of them. At the same time, other guard troops had pinned someone on the ground, he said.

Another witness, Ms Emma McDonald, said she saw one of the soldiers carried away on a stretcher minutes after the shooting, his head covered in blood and an automated compression system attached to his chest.

Ms Stacey Walters, 43, was in an Uber near the White House around 2.15pm on Nov 26 when she heard two loud booms and saw young children and other pedestrians running from the scene.

She said she heard someone yell, “Help! Help!” and saw what appeared to be US Secret Service agents running after someone in a hooded sweatshirt.

National Guard soldiers have been in Washington since Mr Trump’s initial deployment in August, a move that was opposed by local officials and criticized by Democrats. The guard troops in the city include contingents from the District of Columbia as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.

Mr Trump, a Republican, has suggested repeatedly that crime has disappeared from the capital as a result of the deployment, an assertion at odds with the police department’s official crime statistics. REUTERS