Two West Virginia National Guard members were shot near the White House on Wednesday and remain in critical condition, according to officials. Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser described the attack as a “targeted shooting,” while President Donald Trump called it an “act of terror” and a “heinous assault.”
The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted it by the Trump administration in April 2025, according to law enforcement officials.
Following the shooting, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it has stopped processing all immigration cases related to Afghan immigrants “indefinitely pending further review.” The Trump administration also requested an additional 500 National Guard troops for DC and sought an emergency stay of a federal judge’s order that deemed the deployment unlawful.
President Trump used the incident to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of Afghan immigration, claiming it underscores a national security threat. The suspect arrived under Operation Allies Welcome, a program launched in August 2021 to protect vulnerable Afghans after the US military withdrawal. Over 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the US under this program, according to the State Department.
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll visited the injured guardsmen and called for prayers. The commander of the Joint Task Force — District of Columbia praised the guardsmen as heroes and commended law enforcement for subduing the suspect.
