Two troops critical after being shot in Washington, suspect identified
The man accused of shooting two troops in Washington DC has been identified as the FBI investigates whether terror was a factor and Donald Trump describes the shooter as an “animal”. Follow updates.
A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops in a possible terror attack near the White House has been identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national who came to the US during the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, law enforcement sources told The New York Post.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal was allegedly lying in wait before he rounded the corner near the Farragut West Metro Station in Northwest DC around 2.15pm, then opened fire, striking a female guard in the chest before shooting her in the head, according to law enforcement sources.
Lakanwal, who entered the country under Operation Allies Welcome and resettled in Bellingham, Washington, then allegedly fired at and struck the second guard — until a third guard stationed nearby rushed to the area and took him down, the sources said.
He had worked with the US military in Afghanistan, including the CIA, in Afghanistan before being evacuated to the US as a refugee in September 2021, Fox News reported citing the intelligence service’s director John Ratcliffe.
The suspect, who was reportedly shot four times, was hauled away nearly naked in an ambulance and acted alone.
Police have not revealed a motive for the attack.
Law enforcement sources said the FBI is initially treating the shooting as a potential act of terrorism.
TRUMP: ‘AN ACT OF TERROR’
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as a “heinous assault” and “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror.
“It was a crime against our entire nation,” he said. “It was a crime against humanity.”
The president also said the Department of Homeland Security “is confident” that the suspect came to the US from Afghanistan.
“I can report tonight that based on the best available information, the Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan — a hell hole on earth.”
Mr Trump went on to criticise his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, claiming that the suspect “was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021.”
The shootings took place at the Farragut West metro station two blocks from the White House and in mid-afternoon, when the streets and nearby businesses were packed.
The White House went into lockdown.
Jeffery Carroll, assistant chief of the Washington police, said the gunman “ambushed” his victims.
He “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members.
“He was quickly taken into custody by other National Guard members and law enforcement.”
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called it “a targeted shooting” by a single gunman.
“That individual has been taken into custody,” she said.
There was no immediate clue to the motive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said both soldiers were in “critical condition”.
Patel vowed that “anyone responsible” for the “heinous” assault against the guardsmen will be brought to justice.
CONFLICTING REPORTS
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey posted on X around 3.40pm, local time, that both service members from his state had “passed away from their injuries,” but 20 minutes later added that he was “receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information.”
Law enforcement sources told The New York Post that the suspect was shot four times.
Pictures also showed him being hauled away nearly naked in an ambulance.
Tourist Tim Moye of Newton, Georgia, said he was about a block away from the shooting when it happened — and heard two gunshots, a brief pause, and then three more. A rush of people ran his way and said “somebody was shooting.”
A parking garage attendant a half block away said he heard about eight shots before rushing inside along with many pedestrians.
“It’s scary,” said a clearly shaken uniformed worker, speaking in broken English as she ventured out of her workplace near K St, the major road synonymous with DC lobbying.
BREAKING: Two national guard soldiers have been shot near the White House, one is pictured below with what appears to be a serious head wound. Shooter is at-large, government buildings are on lockdown. pic.twitter.com/3rGWoHnf0u
— Died Suddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) November 26, 2025
‘ANIMAL’: TRUMP VOWS SHOOTER WILL PAY
DC’s Metro Police Department confirmed the shooting occurred a little after 2.30pm, local time, at 17th and I Street, NW, and that the suspect was in custody, but didn’t share how many victims were involved. FBI, ATF and Secret Service agents also responded.
Both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance were outside of DC at the time of the shooting, with Mr Trump in Florida and Mr Vance visiting troops in Kentucky.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” President Trump posted on his Truth Social.
“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
500 MORE TROOPS DEPLOYED IN WASHINGTON
An extra 500 troops will be deployed to Washington after the shooting, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, DC safe and beautiful,” said Hegseth during a visit to the Dominican Republic.
The move will bring the number of National Guard in the US capital to more than 2500
The scene, which is located at a bustling public square with restaurants and retail shopping stores in between the Farragut West and Farragut North metro stations, is now secure.
At least one of the National Guard service members was administered CPR, law enforcement sources added. The suspect is also now at a DC hospital.
A ground stop was later issued at Ronald Reagan National Airport outside DC for departing flights over security concerns.
“The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation. The President has been briefed,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added in a statement shortly after the gunfire.
TRUMP CRIME CRACKDOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHT
It was the most serious incident involving the National Guard since Mr Trump began ordering troops onto the streets of several Democratic-run cities shortly after starting his second term this January.
The government buildings of downtown Washington are heavily guarded, but much of the city has suffered from years of sometimes serious street crime.
Mr Trump made Washington a showcase for his decision to order National Guard soldiers, in camouflage and occasionally carrying rifles, to patrol streets of cities run by Democratic mayors, also including Los Angeles and Memphis.
The policy has prompted bitter complaint from local officials who accuse Mr Trump of stoking tensions, while the deployments are the subject of numerous court challenges.
Last Thursday a federal judge ruled that Mr Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital is unlawful.
FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:
FINAL CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST TRUMP DROPPED
Donald Trump hailed the dismissal of a long-running case accusing him and his allies of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, calling it an “unAmerican Hoax.”
“LAW and JUSTICE have prevailed in the Great State of Georgia,” President Trump posted on Truth Social, hours after a judge ordered the case dismissed.
Mr Trump described the charges as an “Illegal, Unconstitutional, and unAmerican Hoax” that “should have never been brought in the first place.”
The decision brings the curtain down on the final criminal prosecution still shadowing the president’s return to power.
The ruling followed a forceful push from prosecutor Pete Skandalakis, who urged Judge Scott McAfee to shut the Georgia case down, arguing it belonged in federal hands, not state courts. Mr Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow released a statement celebrating the end of the president’s “political persecution,” adding: “This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”
The Republican president faced a slew of federal charges following his first term in office, including conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election and hoarding allegedly classified documents that the government said should not have been removed from the White House.
Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped both cases following Mr Trump’s election, citing the Justice Department’s policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.
“Indeed, if Special Counsel Jack Smith, with all the resources of the federal government at his disposal … concluded that prosecution would be fruitless, then I too find that, despite the available evidence, pursuing the prosecution of all those involved in State of Georgia v. Donald Trump, et al. on essentially federal grounds would be equally unproductive,” Skandalakis wrote in his filing.
He also pointed out that prosecuting a sitting president in Georgia is nearly impossible and that without Mr Trump, the trial would be unworkable for the remaining 14 defendants. McAfee immediately granted the motion to dismiss the case.
‘UGLY’: TRUMP LASHES FEMALE REPORTER
President Trump lashed out at a New York Times reporter after she co-authored an unflattering story about his health, calling her “ugly, both inside and out” in his latest outburst toward a female journalist.
“Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite,” the 79-year-old raged over the story.
“They know this is wrong, as is almost every thing that they write about me, including election results, ALL PURPOSELY NEGATIVE. This cheap ‘RAG’ is truly an ‘ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.’”
Mr Trump then rounded on Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, who co-authored the story and who the president claimed “is assigned to write only bad things about me (and) is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency.
“This has nothing to do with gender,” she said, adding, “it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”
The blast follows Mr Trump admonishing a female Bloomberg News reporter, “Quiet, piggy,” during a gaggle on board Air Force One November 14 as she attempted to ask him a question about the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
The Times story concluded that President Trump “has fewer public events on his schedule and is travelling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office, in 2017, although he is taking more foreign trips.
“He also keeps a shorter public schedule than he used to,” the story added. “Most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5pm on average.”
Last month, Mr Trump revealed that he underwent a MRI during an October 10 “check-up” at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Over the summer, the White House revealed that Mr Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which causes swelling in the ankles and legs.
Mr Trump is the oldest man ever elected to the presidency and the second-oldest commander-in-chief in US history after former President Joe Biden.
If the Republican serves out his full four-year term, he will take that record from Mr Biden.
AUSSIES VISITING US SLUGGED WITH NEW FEE
Foreign tourists visiting US national parks including the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone will now pay a hefty surcharge, the Trump administration announced.
The US Department of the Interior, which operates the renowned US national parks, said that starting in 2026 visitors from abroad will have to pay $US100 ($A155) on top of the individual park fee to enter 11 of the most popular destinations in the system.
The cost of an annual pass to all the parks will meanwhile more than triple to $US250 ($A387) for nonresidents.
“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” said US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a statement.
“These policies ensure that US taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
Long considered a jewel of American tourism, the 63 officially designated national parks receive hundreds of millions of visitors a year – nearly 332 million in 2024, according to the National Park Service.
The standard cost of an America the Beautiful pass that offers unlimited annual access is currently a flat $A124 for any purchaser.
For day use, some parks charge fees by the vehicle, and others by the person – the annual pass covers all passengers plus the pass holder, or up to four adults.
Non-US residents who buy an annual pass will not be subject to the $A155 surcharge on entry to the most visited parks, including Florida’s Everglades, Maine’s Acadia and California’s Yosemite, but that fee will apply to all other foreign visitors.
The significant extra costs for most foreigners – US citizens and permanent residents won’t be impacted – follow President Trump’s July executive order intended to “preserve” the parks for “American families.”
“Non-residents will pay a higher rate to help support the care and maintenance of America’s parks,” read the US Interior Department’s statement.
The department also emphasised “patriotic fee-free days” for residents that would include President’s Day, Veteran’s Day and Mr Trump’s birthday, which happens to fall on the annual observance of Flag Day.
‘BIG FAT SLOB’: TRUMP SLAMS GOVERNOR DURING TURKEY PARDON
Donald Trump hosted the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon at the White House, joking that he was also re-pardoning last year’s birds that only got an “autopen” reprieve and saying he considered naming this year’s gobblers “Chuck and Nancy.”
Former President Joe Biden “used an autopen for last year’s turkey pardons,” the president joked, calling them “totally invalid,” a contention he’s made of the Democrat’s late-term grants so often that an autopen portrait took the place of Mr Biden’s picture in the White House photo gallery
“The turkeys known as Peach and Blossom last year have been located and they were on their way to be processed … but I have stopped that journey and I am officially pardoning them, and they will not be served as Thanksgiving dinner,” he joked.
Turkeys named Gobble and Waddle, said to be the plumpest birds presented at the annual event, received this year’s pardons.
“When I first saw their pictures … I was going to call them (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck (Schumer) and (former House Speaker) Nancy (Pelosi), but then I realised I wouldn’t be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people,” Mr Trump joked, noting “I wouldn’t care what Melania told me.”
Gobble and Waddle are the latest in Trump’s long list of second-term clemency grants, with roughly 1700 pardons so far and many prison commutations, though the latest figures have not yet been posted.
“My more enthusiastic staffers were already drafting the paperwork to ship Gobble and Waddle straight through the terrorist confinement centre in El Salvador, and even those birds don’t want to be there,” President Trump went on, referring to his own deportation of migrants.
Mr Trump said that his team drafted a joke about Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker but he was too angry to read it after reading about a woman burned on a Chicago train, as Pritzker refuses Trump’s request for partnership on a federal-led crime crackdown.
“The mayor is incompetent and the governor is a big fat slob,” Trump said instead.
“Some speechwriter wrote some joke about his weight, but I would never want to talk about his weight I don’t talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob … I’d like to lose a few pounds too, by the way. And I’m not going to lose it on Thanksgiving.”
The president and First Lady Melania Trump are slated to head to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate the holiday.
- with the New York Post and AFP
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Originally published as Two troops critical after being shot in Washington, suspect identified