FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that electronic devices were among the items seized after search warrants were executed in Washington state and San Diego in the investigation of a suspect who allegedly shot two National Guard members in the nation’s capital.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, is accused of carrying out a targeted, ambush-style shooting of Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe and Spc. Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. Both Guard members remain in critical condition.
"The firearm and other materials have been sent to our Quantico laboratory already yesterday for immediate analysis," Patel said in a news conference that aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform. "That work is ongoing. Partnering with the D.C. United States Attorney's Office, we have also executed multiple search warrants around the country to include the subject's last known residence, which is in the state of Washington.
"The search warrant was executed on that house last night or early this morning. And it is an ongoing process. All the individuals found in the house have been interviewed and some interviews remain ongoing. We will not stop until we interview anyone and everyone associated with the subject, the house and every piece of his life. There [are] also subject interviews conducted in San Diego pursuant to our ongoing investigation."
Patel said the electronic devices were seized at the suspect’s residence in Bellingham, Washington, and information uncovered there led investigators to San Diego.
"Thanks to the quick investigation by the interagency and the FBI, we were able to track down his last known residence, working with the United States Attorney's offices here and at the Department of Justice and prosecutors across the country," Patel said. "We were able to serve search warrants literally overnight and through the night, and we were able to hit the house in Washington state. During that process, we seized numerous electronic devices to include cellphones, laptops, iPads and other material that is being analyzed as we speak.
"Pursuant to that investigation and any known associates of the subject and of that house is how we ended up in San Diego, where interviews were conducted and are going to be continued to be conducted. And we will go anywhere in the country or the world where the evidence leads us."
Lakanwal, who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire before he was captured, entered the U.S. in 2021 following the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Department of Homeland Security said he came in under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted U.S. forces during the Afghanistan war and feared reprisals after the Taliban seized control of the country.
"This individual is in this country for one reason and one reason alone, because of the disastrous withdrawal from the Biden administration and the failure to vet in any way, shape or form this individual and countless others,” Patel said. “And this administration has taken the rightful step to stop any further allowance of people with dissimilar background into the country. And we're thankful for that."
Patel’s remarks came the same day U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reportedly announced it would indefinitely suspend immigration processing for Afghan nationals — a move the Trump administration said was prompted by Wednesday’s shooting.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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