What we know about the 2 National Guard members shot near White House
One of the two National Guard members from West Virginia wounded in a shooting in downtown Washington, D.C. near the White House on Wednesday, has died and the other is "fighting for his life," President Donald Trump said Thursday evening.
Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the victims, during a phone call with members of the military for Thanksgiving.
"She's just passed away. She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now," Trump said of Beckstrom. "Her parents are with her. It's just happened."
He called the 20-year-old Army specialist a "highly respected, young, magnificent person."
The other Guard member, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, was in critical condition, officials said earlier Thursday.
"This is not the result we hoped for, but it is the result we all feared, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said in a statement posted on social media.
"Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation," Morrisey said in the post. "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."
In a statement, the West Virginia National Guard confirmed Beckstrom's death.
Beckstrom was assigned to a military police company as part of the West Virginia National Guard, entering the service in June 2023, according to the West Virginia National Guard.
The Guard unit said she was a resident of Summersville, West Virginia, and a 2023 graduate of Webster County High School.
"She volunteered to serve as part of Operation DC Safe and Beautiful helping to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital," the West Virginia National Guard said in the statement. "Her loss is felt profoundly across our One Guard Family and throughout the Mountain State."
Wolfe, the other Guardsmen wounded in the shooting, was a member of the Air National Guard in West Virginia who entered the service in February 2019 and had earned numerous service medals.
The two Guard members joined the D.C. task force at the beginning of the mission in early August, the West Virginia National Guard said in a statement.
"Unfortunately today, as most families join together to give thanks for the blessings that have been bestowed upon them, two families are shattered and destroyed and torn apart as a result of the actions of one man," Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said during a Thursday morning news conference.
During the press conference on Thursday, Pirro said the two Guardsmen were sworn in 24 hours prior to being shot. A joint task force spokesperson later said the two Guard members were deputized less than 24 hours before the shooting to "maintain their status to conduct presence patrols," according to a joint task force spokesperson.
The Guardsmen's orders in the nation's capital had been set to expire on Nov. 30, but they volunteered to stay on extended orders, according to the West Virginia National Guard.
The extension was authorized by West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey at President Donald Trump's request through the end of the year.
The president has insisted that Guard members were needed to secure the city. While many of them patrolled metro stations, the rest worked on beautification projects around the city and with food banks.
Brigadier Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, commander of the D.C. National Guard, was emotional while discussing the struggles the families of the victims will face this Thanksgiving -- with all their lives "changed forever because one person decided to do this horrific and evil thing."
The two Guardsmen were armed at the time of the shooting, Jeffery Carroll, the executive assistant chief for the Metropolitan Police Department, said on Wednesday.
The National Guard was deployed to the nation's capital as part of Trump's federal takeover of the city in August. According to the most recent update, there are 2,188 Guard personnel assigned to D.C.
After the shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump has asked to send another 500 National Guardsmen to D.C.
The suspected shooter was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who allegedly drove across the country from Washington state to the nation's capital and targeted the Guardsmen, officials said.
Lakanwal was charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill while armed and criminal possession of a weapon, but he could also face the charge of first-degree murder depending on the conditions of the Guardsmen, Pirro said.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
