The crazed gunman accused of shooting two National Guard troops stationed on the streets of Washington, DC, shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he fired his weapon — and appeared to be in the middle of reloading when he was shot and taken into custody, according to new court documents.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 following the US military pullout and worked on one of the CIA’s “Zero Units,” shot West Virginia National Guard members Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in the cowardly broad daylight attack.
Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries on Thanksgiving Day, while Wolfe remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Lakanwal was charged with first-degree murder while armed in Beckstrom’s murder during a Tuesday hearing with DC prosecutors at his hospital bedside, where he’s being held under guard as he recovers from gunshot wounds.
A criminal complaint has not yet been filed in federal court, where US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has said they will seek the death penalty.
A chilling image taken from a surveillance video shows Lakanwal biding his time outside the Farragut West Metro Station just blocks from the White House, glancing to the west.
He stood there for “about a minute” before running in the direction of the intersection of 17th Street and I Street Northwest, according to charges filed in Washington, DC, Superior Court.
Another video shows Lakanwal turning the corner at the intersection with his hands raised “in a firing stance,” according to court documents, and firing rounds in the direction of Beckstrom and Wolfe, who both can be seen collapsing to the ground after being struck in the head, the affidavit said.
Follow the latest on the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC:
- Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guardsmen shot by crazed Afghan refugee, dies at 20: ‘Looking down at us’
- Two National Guard troops shot near White House in suspected terror attack, alleged gunman in custody
- DC terror suspect will have charges upgraded to murder: Pirro
- Top Trump intel official reveals DC terror suspect wasn’t vetted for entry to US
- Afghan terror suspect ‘disappeared’ roughly 2 weeks before ambushing National Guard troops in DC, neighbor says
Upon hearing the gunfire, another West Virginia National Guard member, only identified in the affidavit as Complainant Reynolds, drew his service weapon and engaged in a gunfight with Lakanwal, who was shot and fell to the ground.
Reynolds said it appeared Lakanwal’s firearm was empty and that he was attempting to reload, at which point another National Guard Major, identified only as “W-1,” jumped on the terror suspect to subdue him.
