National Guard soldiers shot in 'targeted' attack near White House

WASHINGTON: Two National Guard soldiers were shot on Wednesday (Nov 26) near the White House in what officials described as a targeted ambush, and the suspect was in custody after suffering gunshot wounds during the attack.

Investigators identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national from Washington State, according to a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the official said.

Lakanwal came to the US in 2021 on a special visa program for Afghans who assisted the US during the Afghanistan war and were vulnerable to reprisals from the ruling Taliban after the US withdrawal, the official said. But he overstayed his visa and is in the country illegally, according to the official.

President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time of the attack, which prompted the White House to go into lockdown as law enforcement from multiple federal and city agencies swarmed the area.

The two soldiers, members of the West Virginia National Guard, were part of a "high-visibility patrol" around 2.15pm ET near the corner of 17th and I streets, a few blocks from the White House. The suspect came around a corner and "ambushed" them, Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said at a press briefing.

After an exchange of gunfire, other National Guard troops were able to subdue the shooter, he said. The two wounded soldiers were in critical condition at local hospitals, FBI Director Kash Patel said.

"This is a targeted attack," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the briefing.

The shooter appeared to have acted alone, officials said.

Trump is at his resort in Palm Beach ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday, while US Vice President JD Vance is in Kentucky.

In a social media post, Trump called the suspected shooter an "animal" who would "pay a very steep price" and praised the National Guard.

He also ordered 500 more guard soldiers deployed to Washington, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters, joining about 2,200 already in the city as part of the president's contentious immigration and crime crackdown targeting Democratic-led cities.

WITNESSES DESCRIBE CHAOTIC SCENE

The shooting unfolded near Farragut Square, a popular lunch spot for office workers just a few blocks from the White House. The park, where light posts are wrapped in wreaths and bows for the holiday season, is flanked by fast-casual restaurants and a coffee shop, as well as two metro stops.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene after shots were fired, with pedestrians fleeing.

Mike Ryan, 55, said he was on his way to buy lunch nearby when he heard what sounded like gunfire. He ran half a block away and heard another round of apparent gunfire.

When he made his way back to the scene, he saw two National Guard soldiers on the ground across the street, with people trying to resuscitate one of them. At the same time, other guard troops had pinned someone on the ground, Ryan said.

Another witness, Emma McDonald, said she saw one of the soldiers carried away on a stretcher minutes after the shooting, his head covered in blood and an automated compression system attached to his chest.

National Guard soldiers have been in Washington since Trump's initial deployment in August, a move that was opposed by local officials and criticised by Democrats. The guard troops in the city include contingents from the District of Columbia as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.

Trump, a Republican, has suggested repeatedly that crime has disappeared from the capital as a result of the deployment, an assertion at odds with the police department's official crime statistics.