Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been identified as the suspect in the shooting of two U.S. National Guardsmen near the White House. Law enforcement sources confirmed that Lakanwal, who entered the U.S. under humanitarian parole in 2021, was taken into custody after the attack, which is being investigated as a potential act of international terrorism. Both Guardsmen remain in critical condition.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. legally in 2021 under humanitarian parole as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country. The suspect reportedly had his asylum application approved during the Trump administration. Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.
Lakanwal had been living in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and five children, federal authorities said Thursday. He drove his vehicle roughly 2,500 miles across the country to Washington, D.C., before Wednesday’s shooting. Investigators reviewed video showing the attacker ‘came around the corner’ and immediately started firing at the Guardsmen. Other Guardsmen ran over and tackled the shooter, and he was taken into custody. Investigators believe he was the only gunman.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said a responding Guardsman shot and wounded the suspect. He was hospitalized and placed under ‘heavy guard,’ she said. No motive has been established in the shooting as of Thursday morning. The alleged gunman was ‘severely wounded’ before being taken into custody, President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account Wednesday afternoon.
Trump later said the ‘heinous assault’ was an ‘act of evil and [an] act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.’ D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a ‘targeted shooting.’ Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.