 "National Guard are seen after reports of two National Guard soldiers shot near the White House in Washington, Wednesday. AP")
It was a normal Wednesday afternoon at Washington, DC’s Farragut Square. However, at 2.15 pm (local time), an armed man ambushed the National Guard members deployed around the city, shooting at them, before he was subdued and taken into custody.
Suddenly, the spot, which is just a few minutes’ walk from the White House, and known for housing professional office workers, coffee shops and lunch venues, bore the signs of being an active crime scene, shocking and rattling residents in and around the area.
Officials have now taken the suspect into custody. He’s been identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national, prompting the Trump administration to halt all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals for an indefinite period of time.
But what exactly happened? Who is the man responsible for the shooting of the National Guards? What was his motive? We get you the answers you are looking for.
Shots ring out near the White House
On Wednesday afternoon, two West Virginia National Guard members who were deployed to the nation’s capital were shot just blocks from the White House.
According to Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, the two National Guard members were “ambushed” by a person who “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members”.
Carroll added that other National Guard members heard the shots and after a “back and forth” were able to hold the armed man to the ground before he was taken into custody. According to officials, the suspect was also shot, though he didn’t have life-threatening wounds. However, the two National Guard members, who were shot at, are in critical condition.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, described the incident as a “targeted shooting” while Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel said the case will be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
People who were present at the time of the shooting recount the chaos that unfolded after the first pops of gunfire. Angela Perry, 42, who was driving home with her two children, told AFP, We heard gunshots. We were waiting at the traffic light and there were several shots. You could see National Guard running toward the metro with their weapons drawn.”
For Stacey Walters, a nurse, the shooting brought tears to her eyes. She was on her way to the dry cleaners when she heard the gunshots. “I wanted to cry,” she was quoted telling the New York Times. “I’ve never been so close to something like that, let alone at the holidays.”
Eighty-year-old Leonard Koontz, who was staying at a hotel near the shooting, recounted to the New York Times that he had gone down to the lobby when suddenly three guns were pointed at him. The rifles belonged to law enforcement officers, and Koontz was escorted to a back exit of the hotel, he said. As he passed through the lobby, he could see Secret Service members and strobe lights outside. “You don’t know what to expect anywhere, anytime these days,” he said. “People are plumb crazy.”
Another witness, Leila Christopher was on her way to a popular holiday market with a friend when they heard National Guard members shouting “run, run”.
“We heard that there was a shooting. We ran into the nearest cafe and shortly after there was Secret Service surrounding the building in the streets, taping off the streets,” Christopher told CNN. She said she saw a National Guardman being wheeled out on a stretcher with a device that appeared to help pump his heart. “His face was covered in blood,” Christopher said.
Suspect behind Washington, DC shooting
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, hailing from Afghanistan.
According to reports, Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a programme of the Joe Biden administration that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country. The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the US, many of whom had worked alongside US troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.
Authorities who are still ascertaining details about Lakanwal have said that he has been living in Washington state since entering the country. According to his former landlord Kristina Widman, Lakanwal arrived in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles (127.1 kilometres) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children.
Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and it was approved on April 23, according to the official, three months after President Donald Trump took office. He has no criminal history.
Authorities are still trying to determine the motive behind Lakanwal’s actions. He was reportedly shot four times and was hauled away nearly naked in an ambulance.
How authorities are responding to the shooting
In the aftermath of the shooting, US President Donald Trump, who was not at the White House, called it “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror”.
Taking to social media first, Trump wrote, “The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price. God bless our great National Guard, and all of our military and law enforcement. These are truly great people. I, as president of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
Later, in a video message, Trump said, “I can report tonight that based on the best available information, the Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan — a hell hole on earth.”
He noted, “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan” under former president Joe Biden. “We must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country if they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”
And soon after Trump’s address, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency overseeing lawful immigration, took action . “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” the agency wrote in a social media post.
Trump has also ordered US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth to deploy an additional 500 members of the National Guard to the capital city.
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel called the attack “a horrendous act of violence”. He promised at a news conference that the perpetrator “will be brought to justice” and said the matter will be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
US Vice President JD Vance, who was in Kentucky at the time of the shooting, said in a post on X that the incident proved that the Trump administration’s immigration policy was justified. “We must redouble our efforts to deport people with no right to be in our country,” he said.
With inputs from agencies