Updated on: November 27, 2025 / 1:07 AM EST / CBS News
An Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been identified as the suspected shooter in the ambush that wounded two National Guard troops just blocks from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security said. The suspect was shot by another Guard member, taken into custody and is currently hospitalized.
Here’s what we know so far.
Suspect entered U.S. in 2021
Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States in 2021, multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on X that he was paroled into the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, under the Biden-era program for Afghan nationals known as Operation Allies Welcome.
A DHS official told CBS News Lakanwal was paroled on humanitarian grounds in 2021 — the primary legal mechanism used to admit many Afghan evacuees after the Taliban takeover. Lakanwal later applied for asylum in 2024; his asylum application was granted in 2025, the DHS official said. His application for a green card, tied to that asylum grant, remains pending.
Some Afghans admitted in 2021 received special immigrant visas (SIVs) for those who worked with U.S. forces; others were given temporary humanitarian parole. More than 8,000 people from Afghanistan were also granted deportation relief under temporary protected status, which President Biden extended in 2023 but President Trump moved to end earlier this year.
Suspect not cooperating
The suspect was subdued at the scene and taken into custody by National Guard members and law enforcement, Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, said. Law enforcement sources said he is not cooperating with authorities at this time.
Police: ‘lone gunman’ ambushed National Guard
Carroll said the suspect appeared to be “a lone gunman that raised the firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard” as they patrolled near a mass transit station in downtown Washington.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the handgun initially had four rounds. The first victim, a female Guard member, was struck immediately and sustained at least two gunshot wounds. The suspect then took her weapon and used it to shoot a second Guard member. A third Guard member, who was not injured, returned fire and ended the attack.
FBI Director Kash Patel said both wounded Guard members are in critical condition; both are from the West Virginia National Guard.
The Guard members were on high-visibility patrols as part of a monthslong deployment of National Guard troops from D.C. and several states ordered by President Trump.
President Trump, in a video message, called the suspect “a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth,” and said the suspect’s status was extended “under legislation signed by President Biden.”
Authorities continue to investigate; this story will be updated as additional information is confirmed.
