National Guard shooting suspect charged with murder

Prosecutors officially filed murder charges against the suspected shooter accused of killing one National Guard soldier and injuring another in Washington DC last Wednesday.

According to a criminal complaint, Rahmanullah Lakanwal shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he fired and was reloading after a Guard member shot and wounded him.

Lakanwal, who came to the US from Afghanistan in 2021, pleaded not guilty during a virtual court appearance from a hospital bed, the BBC's US partner CBS reported. Charges against him include first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill.

The Trump administration paused all asylum decisions following the shooting and ordered a review of Afghan refugees in the US.

National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries, while the other officer Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically injured and remains in hospital. Both were on assignment in the US capital from West Virginia.

The charging complaint, which includes photos from security-camera footage, lays out what prosecutors say happened last Wednesday near an underground train station while Beckstrom and Wolfe were on patrol with other National Guard troops.

The pair were dressed in military uniforms a few blocks from the White House at about 2:15 p.m. talking to two other Guard members when gunfire erupted.

A supervisor heard gunshots and saw Wolfe and Beckstrom collapse. He "immediately pulled his service weapon and engaged the defendant", the complaint says.

"During the subsequent gunfight, the defendant was shot and fell to the ground."

The supervisor said the shooter stopped firing and was trying to reload when another Guard member jumped on him, and Secret Service officers helped subdue the suspect, the complaint says.

Both Wolfe and Beckstrom had been shot in the head and were rushed to hospital. Beckstrom died the next day. An autopsy found the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back of her head and the manner of death "homicide".

File photo: Rahmanullah Lakanwal

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey on Monday described Wolfe's condition on Monday as "positive" and said he responded to prompts from a nurse. Morrisey also asked for prayers "as Andrew fights to survive."

A judge said the case against Lakanwal was "exceedingly strong", according to CBS, and ordered him held without bond.

Lakanwal worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and fled to the US after the Taliban overthrew the civilian government in 2021. US officials feared people like Lankanwal would be targeted by the Taliban because of their connections to US forces.

Officials told CBS his 2024 asylum request was granted earlier this year and he lived in Bellingham, Washington state with his wife and five children.

Lakanwal became withdrawn from society and isolated in a room for weeks, according to emails from a social worker last year who said they thought he had mental health illness.