National Guard shooting suspect has charges upgraded as second victim fights for life – Live

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro baselessly alleged that Afghans who entered the United States in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 — including the man suspected of shooting two National Guard troops — was not “vetted” before entering the country.

“Look, there was no vetting. If you think there was vetting, I have a bridge to sell you,” she told Fox News Friday.

“If you saw the chaos that was going on at that airport in Kabul in Afghanistan, it was typical of what was going on in the Biden administration,” she said. “Let’s stop namby-pambing around with this ‘oh, he was vetted.’ There was no ‘vetted.’ The welcome mat was thrown down.”

Pirro said “we don’t know who they are” until we “suffer the consequences.”

Roughly 76,000 Afghan refugees were allowed entry into the United States in 2021, according to a report at the time by the Department of Homeland Security.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal is expected to be among the 3,300 of those refugees that year who were granted a “special immigrant visa,” which allowed for expedited entry because of his employment with the CIA and other U.S. forces.

He was reportedly granted asylum in the country in April 2025 — under Trump.

Asked whether his administration is considering deporting the family of the man accused of gunning down two National Guard service members, Donald Trump said he is “looking at that right now.”

“Well, we’re looking at that right now,” he said Thursday. “We’re looking at the whole situation with family.”

Lakanwal, 29, is believed to have arrived in the United States in 2021 during Joe Biden’s administration and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration.

He had previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Lakanwa was believed to have been living in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and five children and working as a delivery driver, according to officials.

Law enforcement officials have not publicly identified a motive for the shooting or what compelled him to drive across the country to allegedly attack National Guard members.

Trump’s vitriolic late-night Thanksgiving message on Truth Social unloaded on Governor Tim Walz (whom the president called a highly offensive slur for people with intellectual disabilities), claimed Somalians are roaming streets looking for “prey” and vowed to impose sweeping restrictions on immigration.

A social media account serving as the White House rapid response communications channel called the rant “one of the most important messages ever” from the president.

Flags in West Virginia are flying at at half-staff and the state is holding a moment of silence or prayer at 2:15 p.m. ET in honor of West Virginia Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe.

“These two West Virginia heroes were serving our country and protecting our nation’s capital when they were maliciously attacked,” Governor Patrick Morrisey said Friday.

Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member killed in Wednesday’s attack, had volunteered to work in DC over Thanksgiving, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“She volunteered, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families, yet now their families are in hospital rooms with them while they are fighting for their lives,” Bondi told Fox News Thursday.

Beckstrom, of Summersville, West Virginia, first began her service on June 26, 2023, and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard.

As anticipated, Pirro has announced on Fox News this morning that Rahmanullah Lakanwal will face a first-degree murder charge, upgraded from three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, following the tragic death of Sarah Beckstrom.

Here’s the latest from Alex Woodward.

If you’re just joining us, President Donald Trump announced last night that National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, who was shot outside of a Washington, D.C., Metro station in in a “savage” gun attack Wednesday, has died of her injuries.

“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023 outstanding in every way. She’s just passed away,” Trump said in a Thanksgiving call to service members from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, last night.

“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. She was savagely attacked, she’s dead now.”

Andrew Wolfe, the other soldier shot in the incident, is still “fighting for his life,” the president said, adding: “He’s in very bad shape… hopefully we’ll get better news with respect to him.”

Jason Wolfe, Andrew Wolfe’s father, asked people to “pray for my son” when he briefly spoke to the media.

Owen Scott has more on the victims.

Here’s the secretary of state’s reaction to the sad news about Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard soldier who has died of her injuries.