The identities of the two National Guardsmen involved in Wednesday’s shocking terror incident in Washington DC have been released.
Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Backstrom, 20, were named during a press briefing held on Thursday.
Authorities reported that both guardsmen have undergone surgery and are currently in critical condition.
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro disclosed that the soldiers had only recently been inducted into the West Virginia National Guard, taking their oaths just days before the attack occurred.
The ambush took place on Wednesday while the soldiers were on patrol, part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing initiative to restore order on the streets of D.C.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan soldier, has been identified as the suspected shooter and is now in custody in connection with the violent attack.
Lakanwal was brought to the United States in 2021 as part of former president Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome when he withdrew from Afghanistan, which facilitated temporary visas for Afghans who assisted US Special Forces.
Images from the press conference show Pirro held notes on blaming the Biden administration for allowing Lakanwal into the country, including the words ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ and ‘Biden Legislation’ underlined.
Officials said at the Thursday press conference that Lakanwal drove across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to DC before he fired at the troops on Wednesday afternoon with a .357 revolver.
He was shot during the chaotic aftermath of the terror attack and he also remains in hospital, Pirro said, and will be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Andrew Wolfe was publicly identified in a tribute by his former high school on Wednesday night, hours after the tragedy unfolded just yards from the White House
Sarah Backstrom, 20, was also shot in the attack, and both she and Wolfe were said to be in critical condition after undergoing surgery
Afghan soldier Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was named as the alleged gunman in custody over the horror shoot-out
Pirro cautioned that the charges could be upgraded in the coming days, dependent on the condition of the two National Guardsmen.
‘We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree,’ she said, adding, ‘We will hold this perpetrator accountable under the full weight of the law.’
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously Fox News that the White House could pursue terrorism charges and the death penalty in the case.
Late on Wednesday night, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Lakanwal had direct links to the CIA from his work alongside US Special Forces in Afghanistan.
‘The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA,’ Ratcliffe admitted.
He said his involvement with the CIA was ‘as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation.’
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro (left) holds a press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday
Footage emerged from the scene on Wednesday showing first responders performing CPR on a troop shot in the head
Like President Trump, Ratcliffe slammed the former administration’s ‘disastrous’ actions during the withdrawal of Afghanistan, which allowed unvetted foreigners to enter the US on temporary visas.
‘The individual – and so many others – should have never been allowed to come here,’ Ratcliffe said.
‘Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.’
In response to the shooting, President Trump took aim solely at his predecessor Joe Biden and the previous administration on Wednesday night, insisting ‘no country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.
‘The suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on earth.
‘He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in.
‘His status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden, a disastrous president, the worst in our history.’
Trump went on to warn authorities ‘must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.
‘This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity… This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.’
A member of law enforcement with a rifle at the scene near the White House
Shortly after his speech, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indefinitely stopped ‘processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals, effective immediately… pending further review of security and vetting protocols.
‘The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission,’ the department said in a statement.
Trump vowed that ‘the animal’ who shot the troops ‘will pay a very steep price’ as he praised ‘every member of the United States military who is deployed tonight, at home and abroad.’
He urged all families to ‘say a prayer for the two great heroes who were horribly shot.’
