National Guardsmen shooting suspect's case moved to federal court, where death penalty can be weighed: Pirro
The suspect who authorities say fatally shot a National Guard member and seriously wounded another in Washington, D.C., last month has now been charged in federal court, where the death penalty can be considered, federal officials said Wednesday.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national, has been newly charged by federal complaint with two firearm offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
He remains charged in the federal complaint with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of the D.C. Code, the office said. He had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges in D.C. Superior Court.
The transfer of the case to federal court "ensures that we can undertake the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate here," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement on Wednesday.
D.C. Superior Court, where Lakanwal was initially charged in the days following the shooting, does not have the death penalty.
Two National Guard members from West Virginia were shot in the head while on patrol on Nov. 26 in the nation’s capital in an "ambush-style" attack, according to federal prosecutors. Army specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries, officials said. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically injured and "has a long road ahead in his recovery," Pirro said Wednesday.
A .357 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle, Washington, in 2023, was recovered from the scene of the shooting, federal prosecutors said.
Lakanwal allegedly obtained the stolen revolver on Nov. 14 from an individual who believed the suspect wanted it for "personal protection while working as a rideshare driver," according to the federal complaint. He then drove cross-country in the days before the attack from Washington to D.C., according to the complaint.
The federal complaint, filed on Tuesday, alleges that Lakanwal transported a firearm that he had "reasonable cause to believe was stolen" across state lines, and that he transported the gun with the intent to commit an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
The suspect has not yet entered a plea to the federal charges, online records show.
Lakanwal, who had worked with the CIA during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, came to the United States in 2021, law enforcement sources said. He applied for asylum last year and was granted it in April, according to the sources.
