Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told NBC News that as per authorities, the suspect in the National Guard shooting, which killed one person, was radicalised in the US.
The suspected shooter, identified as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, could have been radicalised through “connections in his home community and state,” and that investigators are interviewing his family and acquaintances.
Who is Rahmanullah Lakanwal?
Lakanwal had entered the US in 2021 under a resettlement program for Afghans evacuated following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. He lived in Washington state before the attack.
Lakanwal had served alongside US troops in Afghanistan and was granted asylum during the Trump administration.
“He was brought into the country by the Biden administration through Operation Allies Welcome. And then, maybe vetted after that, but not done well, based on what the guidelines were put forward by President Biden,” Noem had told ABC News.
Who were affected in the attack?
One of the two members of the National Guard who were shot in Washington DC on Wednesday has died.
The 20-year-old victim, Sarah Beckstrom, from her injuries, while the second National Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was “fighting for his life”, Trump had earlier updated.
Both were shot at close range near Farragut Square in downtown DC just after 14:00 EST on Wednesday.
Lakanwal to be charged with first-degree murder
Lakanwal will now be charged with first-degree murder following the announcement of Beckstrom’s death.
“It is a premeditated murder. There was an ambush with a gun toward people who didn’t know what was coming…And that is the homicide, and that is the murder that we’re looking at right now, US attorney for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro, had told Fox and Friends.