Accused National Guard attacker faces first-degree murder charges after fatal shooting near White House

The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington DC, killing one, will face first-degree murder charges.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on Fox News on Friday that other charges would be filed against 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who she said ambushed the soldiers from the West Virginia National Guard near the White House on Wednesday.

Formal charges were not immediately filed against Lakanwal, who had been in the US since 2021 under a program of then-president Joe Biden’s administration to resettle Afghans who helped the US during the war in their homeland. He was granted asylum under the Trump administration.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds on Thursday. Her National Guard colleague, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was in critical condition, Pirro said on Friday.

The two were in Washington as part of President Donald Trump’s deployment of the military in recent months to help the police fight crime in the city. On Friday morning, following the national holiday, notably fewer National Guard members were seen patrolling the capital.

Mr Trump, whose dispatch of troops to Washington faces fierce legal challenges, took to social media late on Thursday to escalate his rhetoric on immigration. Since taking office this year, he has stepped up arrests of immigrants, including some in the US legally, and cracked down on unlawful border crossings while stripping legal status from hundreds of thousands of people.

“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” Mr Trump said in his social media posts, referring to his predecessor in the White House.

Mr Trump did not say which countries he considers “Third World,” nor what he meant by a permanent pause.

Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 through Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome. More than 70,000 Afghans have been resettled in the US under the program for those fearing reprisal by the Taliban forces, who seized control of Afghanistan after the US military’s withdrawal. Officials said Lakanwal was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the US.

He was granted asylum this year under Mr Trump, according to a US government file on him seen by Reuters.

Investigators said Lakanwal drove across the country from his home in the state of Washington and shot the two Guardsmen with a powerful revolver, a .357 Magnum, before being wounded in an exchange of gunfire with other troops.

Less than 24 hours after the shooting, Mr Trump officials began ordering widespread reviews of immigration policies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday said he would be proposing regulations to ensure that people he referred to as “illegal aliens” do not receive certain credits on income tax they have paid.

The tax code is set by Congress, which already limits what kind of benefits, if any, non-citizens are eligible to seek. Lakanwal lives in Washington state with his wife and five children, according to investigators. Asked whether he was planning to deport the suspect’s family, Mr Trump said: “We’re looking at the whole situation with family.”

United Nations agencies urged the US on Friday night to continue allowing asylum seekers access to the country, including due process rights, in keeping with international law.

“We expect all countries, including the United States, to honour their commitments under the 1953 Refugee Convention,” said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general.