Suspect in DC shooting of 2 National Guard members formally charged with murder

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members, killing one, in Washington, D.C., has been formally charged with murder.

Lakanwal, of Bellingham, Washington, appeared before a judge remotely on Tuesday from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered when another National Guard member shot him during the incident.

Lakanwal was wearing a hospital gown and was lying in a hospital bed, covered in a blanket, during the remote court appearance.  

Through a Pashtu interpreter, Lakanwal was charged with one count of murder, two counts of assault with the intent to kill, and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. 

Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to the charges through a court-appointed attorney.

At one point during the hearing, Lakanwal, speaking in Pashtu, said through the interpreter, "I cannot open my eyes, I have pain in my ear."

"This is a shocking crime that happened at about two in the afternoon, so the beginning of rush hour the day before Thanksgiving," Ariel Dean, an assistant U.S. attorney, said during the hearing.

Lakanwal is charged with shooting Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, members of the West Virginia National Guard, who were "ambushed" while conducting "high visibility patrols" on Nov. 25 just blocks from the White House, authorities said.

Beckstrom was killed and Wolfe was critically injured, authorities said.

New details of the attack emerged on Tuesday when authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Lakanwal, a married father of five children.

Lakanwal, according to the complaint, shot Beckstrom from behind and was trying to reload after he was shot and just before he was subdued. An autopsy by the Washington, D.C., Medical Examiner's Office determined that Beckstrom was shot once in the back of the head, according to the complaint.

Wolfe was also shot in the head during the attack, according to the complaint.

Witnesses told investigators that as Beckstrom and Wolfe fell to the ground after being shot, Lakanwal was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar," an Arabic phrase meaning "God is great," according to the complaint.

Video recovered from the scene of the shooting allegedly shows Lakanwal opening fire on the National Guard members after coming around a corner "with his hands raised in a firing stance," according to the complaint.

The National Guard member who shot Lakanwal reported that it appeared the suspect's firearm, a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, was empty and he was attempting to reload, according to the complaint. After Lakanwal was shot, a witness and uniformed Secret Service officers subdued him and brought him into custody, the complaint said.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond ruled that Lakanwal be held without bond until at least Jan. 14.

'It is fairly clear that he [Lankanwal] came across the country 3,000 miles armed and with a specific purpose in mind," Raymond said during the hearing. "There's video footage of him waiting in broad daylight, and that upon seeing a contingent of law enforcement officers, including the slain and injured National Guard persons, he went in their direction. He started shooting at them."

A motive for the attack remains under investigation.

Sources previously told ABC News that the FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of international terrorism, suggesting authorities are trying to determine if it may have been inspired by an international terrorist organization. Thus far, however, authorities have not publicly released any specific evidence tying Lakanwal to a terrorist organization, and no terrorism-related charges have been filed.

The suspect previously worked with the U.S. government as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, "which ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan," according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

"This individual – and so many others – should have never been allowed to come here," Ratcliffe said.

In Afghanistan, the suspect was involved with the Zero Unit, working closely with the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The suspect was a trusted member of that team, which went after U.S. counterterrorism targets, according to sources.

The investigation indicates Lakanwal was under financial stress because his work permit had expired, and that he was experiencing a possible mental health crisis, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.

Investigators are also looking into whether the recent death of an Afghan commander with whom Lakanwal worked and whom he revered might have negatively affected his mental and emotional health, multiple sources told ABC News.