Two National Guard soldiers who were ambushed in the shooting block from the White House last week both suffered gunshot wounds to the head, according to new details released about the attack.
According to an eight-page complaint filed by U.S. Army Special Forces Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Detective Joshua Brunson, Andrew Wolf was “in uniform” on patrol near the intersection of 17th Avenue and Eye Street NW in Washington when gunshots rang out.
According to the indictment reviewed by USA TODAY, a photo taken from a surveillance camera at the scene of the Nov. 26 shooting shows the suspected gunman crouching next to Beckstrom and Wolff after shooting them with a revolver.
Wolf, 24, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, “kept fighting for his life” after the shooting that fatally injured Beckstrom, of Summersville, West Virginia. She was 20 years old. I survived for just over a day after the violence.
The shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Rakanwal, 29, attended his first court appearance in Superior Court for the District of Columbia virtually from his hospital bed on December 2nd.
He was charged with murder, assault with intent to kill and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, according to a USA TODAY review of online court records.
Introducing the latest information regarding shooting.
The gunshots occurred at 2:13 p.m. while the victims were chatting with co-workers.
Before the shooting occurred, video recovered from another location near the crime scene showed the defendant standing on the sidewalk outside the Farragut West subway station for about a minute, according to court records.
In these videos, the defendant appears to glance westbound at the intersection with 17th Street, then run toward the area.
According to charging documents, two Army National Guard majors were talking with Beckstrom and Wolf when shots were fired at about 2:13 p.m. ET.
One witness told authorities that he saw the two men fall to the ground as the defendant fired a gun and shouted “Allah Akbar!”
This Arabic phrase translates into English as “God is great.”
Beckstrom and Wolf were “unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds to the head” by the time they were taken to the hospital, the suit continued.
Court documents continue that the witness “immediately drew his issued service weapon and engaged the defendant.”
In the ensuing gunfight, the suspect was shot and fell to the ground.
The same witness said the defendant’s gun appeared to be empty and another person nearby “immediately jumped at the defendant who was trying to reload,” court records state.
Both witnesses and uniformed U.S. Secret Service agents who responded to the scene assisted in apprehending the suspect. Beckstrom was pronounced dead at a hospital on Nov. 27, according to court documents.
Autopsy: National Guard soldier shot in the back of the head and killed
An autopsy conducted by Dr. Kristinza Gies of the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office determined that Beckstrom died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Beckman’s manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Contributed by: Reuters
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund
