White House Area Shooting Suspect Identified as Former US Ally
An Afghan national who previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan has been identified as the suspect in Wednesday's shooting near the White House that left two National Guard soldiers critically wounded. According to multiple U.S. media reports cited by AFP, the individual is 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Lakanwal moved to the United States in September 2021 after spending a decade in the Afghan army where he assisted U.S. Special Forces. Fox News, citing CIA Director John Ratcliffe, confirmed that Lakanwal had worked with various U.S. government entities, including intelligence services.
Immigration Background and Political Fallout
The Department of Homeland Security revealed that Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program designed to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted American forces during the Afghanistan war. These individuals faced potential reprisals from Taliban forces after the U.S. withdrawal.
According to an anonymous Trump administration official speaking to AP, Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23 of this year, three months after President Trump took office. The 29-year-old resident of Washington state had no known criminal history prior to the incident.
President Trump, who was at his Florida resort during the attack, released a video statement calling the shooting "an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror." He announced that his administration would "re-examine" all Afghans who came to the U.S. during Joe Biden's presidency.
Immediate Consequences and International Reactions
In response to the shooting, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced late Wednesday that it has indefinitely suspended processing applications for Afghan nationals. This decision affects tens of thousands of Afghans sheltering in Pakistan who were awaiting U.S. resettlement decisions.
According to Shawn VanDiver, president of volunteer group AfghanEvac, approximately 200,000 Afghans had arrived in the United States since 2021 through refugee and special visa programs after undergoing vetting processes.
The Taliban reacted to the incident by alleging that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence might be attempting to "tarnish the reputation" of the Afghan government by linking it to the shooting. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told CNN-News18 that their policy remains clear: "we do not allow anyone to use Afghan soil" to carry out attacks abroad.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Trump has ordered 500 additional guard soldiers deployed to Washington, joining about 2,200 already stationed in the city as part of the president's immigration and crime crackdown targeting Democratic-led cities.
One of the wounded National Guard members has been identified as Andrew Wolfe, a Musselman High School alumnus from West Virginia. The West Virginia National Guard had contributed 416 guardsmen to the security deployment, second only to the D.C. National Guard's 949 personnel.
The shooting occurred just five days after a federal judge issued a ruling to temporarily block National Guard troops from performing law enforcement duties in the district without the mayor's approval. However, the judge paused the effect of her order until December to allow an appeal from the Trump administration.
