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National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of West Virginia, has died after she and another guardsman were shot in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced.
“I heard that Sarah Beckstrom, of West Virginia … highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023, outstanding in every way, she’s just passed away,” Trump said on Thanksgiving. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened. She was savagely attacked. She’s dead now.”
The second service member wounded in the attack, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still “fighting for his life,” the president said.
“He’s in very bad shape,” Trump said. “He’s fighting for his life, and hopefully we’ll get better news with respect to him.”
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The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who Trump called a “monster,” is also in serious condition.
“We won’t even talk about him,” Trump said.
Officials and lawmakers offered condolences for Beckstrom’s family upon learning of her death on Thanksgiving.
“An American hero, at home with the LORD. RIP, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. May our nation kneel in prayer for her family,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth wrote on X.
“Sarah Beckstrom was a young soldier and patriot with her entire life ahead of her,” FBI Director Kash Patel added. “Please join me in praying for Sarah’s family, friends, and fellow soldiers left behind.”
D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote: “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom of the National Guard — a hero who volunteered to serve DC on Thanksgiving for people she never met and gave the ultimate sacrifice. May she rest in peace. It is now time to avenge her death and secure justice.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was “devastated.”
“Please pray for Sarah’s family. America will never forget her courage. There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew,” she wrote.
Bondi also stated that the Justice Department would pursue the death penalty against the alleged gunman.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added: “May God Bless Sarah’s family during this unimaginably difficult time.”
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said in a statement that Beckstrom “served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation.”
“She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard,” the governor said. “Today, we honor her bravery and her sacrifice as we mourn the loss of a young woman who gave everything she had in defense of others. We will forever hold her family, her friends, and her fellow Guardsmen in our prayers as they grieve what no family should ever have to bear.”
Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., said he and his wife are “heartbroken beyond words.”
“Our prayers are with her family, friends, and fellow guardsmen during an incredibly difficult Thanksgiving Day,” he said in a statement. “We are also lifting up Andrew Wolfe in prayer as he continues his journey to recovery. West Virginians always show up for one another, and today it’s our turn to show up for our service members as they mourn this terrible loss.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V. added that “West Virginia will never forget Sarah’s service, her sacrifice, and the dedication she showed to her state and her country.”
“We will continue to stand firmly with her family and with the West Virginia National Guard community during this incredibly painful time,” she said in a statement.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the U.S. legally in 2021 under humanitarian parole as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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Lakanwal was vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan for his work with the agency and again for his asylum application in the U.S. A senior U.S. official told Fox News he was “clean on all checks” in his background check.
He had his asylum application approved by the Trump administration earlier this year.
A report released by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General in June found there were “no systemic failures” in Afghan refugee vetting or subsequent immigration pathways.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Thursday that officials would reexamine green cards issued to immigrants from every “country of concern,” including Afghanistan. USCIS also implemented new national security measures to be considered while vetting immigrants from “high risk” countries.
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