(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The man accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House is an Afghanistan national who reportedly worked with U.S. Special Forces and the CIA for roughly a decade.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey had walked back his statement Wednesday announcing the troops had died, saying he received “conflicting reports” about their condition.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Muslim migrant suspected of launching the shooting ambush on National Guard troops near the White House, entered the U.S. in 2021 from Afghanistan under a Biden administration program.
He claimed to be a refugee and applied for asylum in 2024, which… pic.twitter.com/B62PM2hHRE
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) November 27, 2025
The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to the Associated Press.
The 29-year-old suspect, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said.
For about 10 years prior to 2021, Lakanwal had been working with the U.S. government, including the CIA, in Afghanistan, according to Fox News.
“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from 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, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly told Fox News Digital.
BREAKING: RAHMANULLAH LAKANWAL, THE AFGHAN WASHINGTON D.C. NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTER WORKED WITH THE CIA
He was in the partner force in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Every. Single. Time
TOLD YOU IT WAS A FALSE FLAG pic.twitter.com/H5sopH48DW
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) November 27, 2025
The Biden initiative brought roughly 76,000 people from Afghanistan to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions. Advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.
The suspect had been living in Washington state. Lakamal arrived in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord Kristina Widman.
Wednesday night, in a video message released on social media, President Donald Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.
“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”
Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said investigators had no information on a motive. He said the assailant “came around the corner” and immediately started firing at the troops, citing video reviewed by investigators.
“This was a targeted shooting,” Bowser said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
