Two National Guard members were left in critical condition in the Nov. 26 attack, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Authorities have detained an Afghan national in connection with the ambush shooting of two West Virginia National Guard soldiers near the White House in Washington, D.C.
Rahmanullah Rakanwar (known as Rakamal by the Department of Homeland Security) is being investigated as a possible terrorist suspect, according to a Department of Homeland Security news release.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Nov. 26 attack a short distance from the White House left two National Guard members in critical condition.
The suspect was shot and hospitalized shortly after the attack. Metropolitan Police Chief of Staff Geoffrey Carroll described him as a “lone gunman”. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting.”
Rahmanullah Rakanwal entered the United States in 2021, officials say
President Donald Trump said in a speech in Palm Beach, Florida, that the Department of Homeland Security believes the suspect entered the United States in 2021.
Lakhanwal came to the United States in 2021 under a special visa program for Afghans who supported the United States during the Afghanistan war and were vulnerable to retaliation from the ruling Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal, officials told Reuters. However, Lakhanwal has overstayed his visa and is in the country illegally, officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X that the suspect entered the country on September 8, 2021 under “Operation Welcome Allies.”
The attack occurred outside a subway station in the center of the capital, and the White House and other government buildings were placed on lockdown after gunfire. President Trump said in a social media post that the suspect was an “animal” and would pay a “huge price.”
Here’s what we know so far about the suspect in the Washington DC shootings.
What we know about the suspect in the DC shooting
The suspect was apprehended by other troopers in the area, Carroll said.
“They heard the gunshots and were actually able to intervene and after the suspect was shot to the ground, they were able to kind of detain the suspect until law enforcement arrived on the scene,” Carroll said.
The suspect was shot during the interaction and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, police said.
“There are no other suspects at this time,” Carroll said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that Lakhanwal entered the country on September 8, 2021 through Operation Welcome Allies. The program is designed to allow Afghans and their families who supported U.S. troops into the country to enter the country, who could be subject to retaliation by the Taliban after the U.S. withdraws.
Patel said at a news conference that the FBI is working with Washington, D.C. police, the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies in the investigation.
“We brought together the full force of federal, state and local law enforcement,” he said.
President Trump says US needs to re-investigate ‘foreign nationals’ from Afghanistan
President Trump called Afghanistan a “hellhole on Earth” and said the suspect was “brought in on a plane by the Biden administration in September 2021.”
President Trump has repeatedly used anti-immigrant rhetoric and reiterated that the suspect in the shooting will pay “the harshest price possible.” He also slammed Biden, calling him “the most disastrous president in our country’s history.”
President Trump criticized the previous administration, saying the United States “needs to re-examine all foreign nationals who enter our country from Afghanistan under the Biden administration.” Trump added that his administration must take “all necessary steps” to remove immigrants from “countries that don’t belong here or that have an interest in our country.”
“If they don’t love our country, we don’t want them,” Trump said.
Following President Trump’s statement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it would suspend all immigration applications from Afghan nationals.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration is deploying an additional 500 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. There are currently about 2,200 National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C.
Contributions by Joey Garrison, Thao Nguyen, James Power, Davis Winkie, Rebecca Morin, and Zach Anderson
