THE accused Afghan soldier responsible for a possible terror attack near the White House had served alongside American troops in his homeland.
Investigations point to Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, as the “lone gunman” to have carried out the “targeted shooting” in downtown Washington on Wednesday.
He was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as an Afghan national.
Lakanwal was a member of the Afghan Army stationed in Kandahar where he supported US Special Forces in the region, a relative told NBC News.
He was injured while serving in the army and fled Afghanistan.
“We were the ones that were targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan,” the relative told the outlet.
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“I cannot believe it that he might do this.”
Lakanwal was first granted a visa to the US through the botched Afghanistan withdrawal plan in 2021, Reuters reported.
The Operation Allies Welcome allowed roughly 90,000 Afghans to obtain Special Immigration Visas under the Biden Administration.
It was aimed at those who feared reprisals from Taliban forces who seized control of their homeland after the U.S. withdrawal.
He was thought to in the US illegally after overstaying his visa which ended in September 2025.
An government source told Reuters it is understood he applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved in April this year.
He was living in Bellingham, Washington, a community close to the Canadian border that accepted other refugees from Afghanistan, it was reported.
How the attack unfolded
A harrowing video taken from across the street shows the moment a team of guardsmen and Secret Service agents pinned the suspect to the ground at the scene of the shooting.
One of the victims has been identified as 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, according to his former high school.
The second victim is Sarah Beckstrom, 20.
Beckstrom, 20, volunteered to work so other National Guard members could spend Thanksgiving with their families, Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney, said.
The White House was placed on lockdown after shots rang out near the Farragut West metro station just before 2.30pm, Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department said.
The two soldiers, members of the West Virginia National Guard, were on a “high-visibility patrol” outside the entrance to a subway station when the suspect “came around the corner,” drew a weapon and immediately fired at the pair, Carroll said.
It’s alleged Lakanwal was lying in wait before he shot a female guard in the chest and head, before shooting a second guard.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the two members of the US National Guard are in critical condition.
The suspect was eventually taken into custody, and the scene was cleared by 3pm.
The suspect was also shot four times and sustained injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, a law enforcement officer revealed.
The shooting happened at the corner of 17th and H Streets in the northwest quadrant of the city, roughly two blocks northwest of the White House.
The two guardsmen were part of the contingent of troops deployed to Washington over the summer, it is understood.
They were performing “high visibility patrols” when the suspected shooter opened fire.
Trump spoke late on Wednesday night and said the attack was an “act of terror” and slammed Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
The President called for reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered the US after the fall of Kabul.
He also slammed the Somali community in Minnesota and said they too would be investigated.
In an earlier press conference, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the attack on the National Guard Troops was a “targeted shooting”.
In response to Wednesday’s shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said another 500 National Guard troops had been asked to join the more than 2,000 Guard soldiers previously mobilized in the nation’s capital.
Vice President JD Vance, who was in Kentucky on Wednesday, said in a post on X that the shooting 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.
Critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policy say it has employed illegally harsh tactics and swept up immigrants indiscriminately, including some with no criminal history and others here legally.