US President Donald Trump announced Thursday (US time) that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot near the White House in Washington DC had died. During a Thanksgiving call with US troops, the American leader disclosed the heartbreaking news that US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom had died after being targeted in an “ambush-style” attack, according to the Associated Press.
Trump announced National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom’s death
“She’s just passed away,” Trump told the US service members. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her.”
The US president described Becktrom, who was just 20 years old, “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.” The White House spoke to her parents after the POTUS’ declaration, according to CBS News.
Initial US reports, including those from the New York Post, indicated that a female National Guard member was one of the two victims to have been targeted in the DC shooting incident. She was reportedly shot in the chest and head.
Alongside Beckstrom, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe happened to be the other National Guard member who was attacked in DC. In the same call with US troops, Trump disclosed that the young service man “is fighting for his life.”
What do we know about National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom?
The 20-year-old US Army Specialist was from Summersville, West Virginia, according to the New York Times. Having commenced her service on June 26, 2023, she was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade of the West Virginia Army National Guard, as per the BBC.
Alongside Wolfe, Beckstrom had been deployed to Washington DC since August, as Trump directed the National Guard to be stationed in the capital as part of what he labelled as his crackdown on “out of crime.” Ultimately, the young US Army Specialist was among more than 2,000 troops who have been on guard in the US capital for months.
In light of the current development, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that Sarah Beckstrom had stepped up to work in DC over the American Thanksgiving holiday.
Since the shooting the came to light, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old man, has been named as the one suspect in the attack. Donald Trump has since declared the shooting was a “terrorist attack,” while calling out the Joe Biden administration, as Lakanwal came into the country in 2021 through the former president’s initiative called Operation Allies Welcome.
#AfghanEvac, a group focussed on helping resettle Afghans who helped the US during the decades-long war, has since said in a statement that while Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, it was approved under the Trump administration, as per the Associated Press. US reports have since revealed that the Afghan suspect was also shot four time in return after he allegedly targeted the US troops.