WASHINGTON (AP) — An Afghan national who worked with the CIA in his native country and immigrated to the U.S. in 2021 drove from Washington state to shoot two West Virginia National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The suspect had worked in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan, according to two sources who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, and #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon’s brazen act of violence, which comes as the presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.

Pirro identified the guard members at a news conference as Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Both remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Pirro said that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, launched an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The suspect currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were.

Emergency personnel gather in a cordoned off area where National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said, adding: “We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.”

The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the eve of Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.

The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington.

The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Suspect worked with CIA during Afghanistan War

A resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin said Lakanwal was originally from the province and that he and his brother had worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar. A former official from the unit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader.

The cousin spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said he had last spoken to Lakanwal about six months ago. He said both brothers had moved to the United States in 2021. 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 and 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 and others fell back during the Taliban offensive that seized the country.

A former official of 03 Unit, one of the Zero Units, said Lakanwal and his brother had both served in 03, which was stationed in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, in the year before the Taliban takeover. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader.

Lakanwal, 29, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of 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.

The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over allegations of gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say there was extensive vetting and the program offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.

Lakanwal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles (127 kilometers) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.

Prior to his 2021 arrival in the United States, the suspect worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,” John Ratcliffe, the spy agency’s director, said in a statement. He did not specify what work Lakanwal did, but said the relationship “ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation” of U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan.

Kandahar in southern Afghanistan is in the Taliban heartland of the country. It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war.

Wednesday night, in a video message released on social media, President Donald Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.

“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”

Attack being investigated as terrorist act

FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”

Pirro said: “We have been in constant contact with their families and have provided them with every resource needed during this difficult time.”

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser interpreted the shooting as a direct assault on America itself, rather than specifically on Trump’s policies.

“Somebody drove across the country and came to Washington, D.C., to attack America,” Bowser said. “That person will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Morrisey, bishop offer statements on shooting

PARKERSBURG – Gov. Patrick Morrisey and state Adjutant Gen. Jim Seward have visited the members of the West Virginia National Guard critically wounded in a shooting Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

“I’m asking every West Virginian to pray for our two Guardsmen as their families, friends and neighbors struggle with this unspeakable tragedy,” Morrisey said in a release issued Thursday. “These two Guardsmen voluntarily stepped up and risked everything for our state and nation – they are our protectors and some of the most courageous West Virginians you could possibly imagine.”

The Rev. Mark E. Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, issued a statement offering prayer for the wounded soldiers and recalling Martin Luther King Jr.’s words that only light and love can drive out darkness and hatred.

“We must stop this descending spiral of violence in our country that increases hate rather than diminishing evil,” he said. “Let us pray that this epidemic of violence in our country will end, and that every person; regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, or political persuasion will see that it is only through coming together in peace to solve our differences (that) will we be able to prosper together as one nation under God.”

Emergency personnel gather in a cordoned off area where National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)