Report: FBI Probing D.C. Guard Shooting as Terror Act

The FBI will investigate the targeted, ambush-style shooting that left two West Virginia National Guardsmen in critical condition as an act of terrorism, NBC News reported Wednesday night, citing two senior U.S. law enforcement officials.

The Guardsmen were shot in downtown Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House. The suspect, identified by multiple media outlets as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, was shot during the incident and is in custody with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

Lakanwal allegedly came to the U.S. during the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.

Lakanwal was reportedly lying in wait before he rounded the corner near the Farragut West Metro Station in Northwest D.C. at about 2:15 p.m. local time, then opened fire, striking a female guard in the chest before shooting her in the head, law enforcement sources told the Post.

Lakanwal, who entered the country under Operation Allies Welcome and resettled in Bellingham, Washington, then allegedly fired at and struck the second guard — before a third guard stationed nearby rushed to the area and took him down, the sources told the Post.

Police said they have yet to find a motive. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the attack as a "targeted shooting." Both Guard troops were shot in the head, according to NBC News, which cited a U.S. official and a senior official directly briefed on the investigation.

"There were other [Guard] members that were in the area," Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief for D.C. Metro Police, said at a news conference that aired live on the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform. "They were able to, after some back and forth, subdue the individual and bring them into custody. Within moments, members of law enforcement in the area were also able to assist and bring that individual into custody."

Carroll said there is no indication of any other suspects or of any motive for the shooting.

"We have reviewed video from the area," he said. "It appears, like I said, to be a lone gunman that raised the firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard, and he was quickly taken into custody by other National Guard members and law enforcement members.

"At this time, obviously, we’re very in the preliminary stages [of the] investigation. You know, there’s a lot of things, a lot of agents that are here from various federal agencies, law enforcement agencies.

"We have the full power of the FBI and our federal partners here, the task force. So, we’re looking at all those different aspects, but we don’t have any motive."

Emergency medical responders transported all three victims to a hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, who spoke to WUSA-TV.

One injured person was taken via medevac helicopter, WRC-TV reported. The other two were taken by ambulance.

Witnesses told WUSA they heard two shots followed about 30 seconds later by three more, prompting people to run from the area. One witness said a group of children was in the immediate vicinity when the shooting began.

Bowser said at the news conference that she briefed Attorney General Pam Bondi, who she said was on the phone with President Donald Trump when she called, as well as Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

"I want to send my thoughts and prayers to the families of the Guardsmen and to the Guardsmen who are in critical condition in a local hospital," Bowser said. "We join with the FBI director in ensuring that MPD investigates, [and] the U.S. attorney prosecutes this case to the fullest extent of the law."

The wounded service members were among more than 2,000 National Guard troops deployed to Washington in August after Trump took federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilized the troops as part of a crime crackdown. Since then, Guard units have patrolled metro stations and tourist areas and collected trash around the National Mall.