Following last week’s targeted ambush shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members, Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, leading Beckstrom to succumb to her injuries the next day, President Donald Trump revealed that he personally invited the families of both service members for a visit.
Wolfe, fighting for his life, currently remains in critical condition after coming out of surgery last week.
“Andrew is fighting for his life, and his parents are unbelievably great people, highly religious people,” Trump told reporters. “They’re praying, and they want everybody to pray for Andrew, and he has a chance to make it.”
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“I said, ‘When you’re ready, because that’s a tough thing, come to the White House. We’re going to honor Sarah,” Trump continued. “And likewise with Andrew, [whether he] recover or not.”
20-year-old Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, and 24-year-old Wolfe of Marlinsburg, West Virginia, were purportedly ambushed and shot by a 29-year-old Afghan national at close range near Farragut Square in Downtown D.C. — resulting in Beckstrom’s eventual passing.
The two had been deployed to Washington, D.C., as part of President Trump’s campaign to fight rampant crime in major cities across the United States.
During a Saturday vigil, paying his respects, Governor Patrick Morrisey (R-W.Va.) declared that Beckstrom was a “favorite daughter of Webster County,” adding that “she had a lot of kindness and she certainly had courage.”
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Morrisey also provided an update on Monday in regard to Wolfe’s current condition, stating that he has received “some positive news.”
“We were told that Andrew was asked if he could hear the nurse who asked the question to give a thumbs up, and he did respond. And we were told that he also wiggled his toes,” Morissey stated. “So we take that as a positive sign.”
The accused shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, now faces first-degree murder charges and two accounts of assault with intent to kill while armed, among other charges. Lakanwal previously entered the U.S. in September 2021 under the “Operational Allies Welcome” program, set up by the Biden administration following the former Democrat president’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed “Zero Unit,” also known as a Counterterrorism Pursuit Team or part of the Kandahar Strike Force/03 unit, in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. These units were elite Afghan paramilitary forces trained, equipped, and directed by the CIA to conduct high-risk counterterrorism operations. He joined the unit as a teenager initially as a security guard before advancing to team leader and GPS specialist roles. He was later evacuated to the U.S. in 2021, received asylum in April 2025, and resettled in Washington state with his family.
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Lakanwal is accused of traveling across the country to commit the heinous shooting, and investigators are still “working to establish a motive,” despite some law enforcement statements suggesting that an Islamist motive is likely.
A law enforcement source who verified his identity and rank to reporters but spoke on condition of anonymity told the press that Lakanwal shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire on the National Guard members.
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Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi has since revealed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) intends to seek the death penalty.
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