By Faris Tanyos
Updated on: November 27, 2025 / CBS News
President Trump said Thursday that one of two West Virginia National Guard members wounded in an ambush-style shooting in Washington, D.C., this week has died and the other remains gravely injured and “fighting for his life.”
Trump told reporters that 20-year-old Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom had died at MedStar Washington Hospital. He described her as “highly respected” and “a magnificent person” who began service in June 2023. The West Virginia National Guard confirmed Beckstrom’s death, saying she succumbed to wounds suffered in the shooting. A White House official said the president spoke with Beckstrom’s parents Thursday evening.
The second wounded guard member, 24-year-old Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition after surgery, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said earlier Thursday. Trump said Wolfe is “in very bad shape” and that he hopes for better news as Wolfe recovers. Authorities have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was in serious condition.
Pirro initially said both guardsmen had been sworn into duty less than 24 hours before the attack. The National Guard’s Joint Task Force for the District of Columbia later clarified the two had been serving in the district since August and had been deputized before the shooting to preserve their status for patrol duties. Multiple sources told CBS News the guardsmen were not acting as law enforcement officers at the time and did not possess arrest powers.
Beckstrom, from Summersville, West Virginia, enlisted in the Guard in June 2023 and graduated from Webster County High School that year. She volunteered for the Trump administration’s D.C. deployment and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade. The West Virginia National Guard called her loss “profound,” and Col. Larry Doane, commander of the Joint Task Force District of Columbia, described her as “a hero.”
Wolfe, from Martinsburg, West Virginia, joined the Guard in February 2019 and is assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing. He graduated from Musselman High School in 2019; his former principal remembered him as an active, engaged, high-achieving student.
Nicole Sganga contributed to this report.