By Ed Malik, A /edmalik06@gmail.com
President Donald Trump announced that one of the two West Virginia National Guardsmen who was shot Wednesday in Washington, D.C., succumbed to her wounds Thursday.
West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and West Virginia Air National Guard Andrew Wolfe were allegedly attacked at the Farragut West Metro Station in Washington, D.C., roughly a mile from the White House by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the United States in September 2021 after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Beckstrom’s wounds were described as fatal on Thursday, as confirmed by her father before her passing.
“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023 outstanding in every way. She’s just passed away,” Trump said as he was about to call service members for Thanksgiving.
Both National Guardsmen were in critical condition since the Wednesday shooting. Beckstrom’s father told the Times he was at the hospital with her.
“I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom said. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”
“All we need right now are prayers for my son,” a man at Wolfe’s Martinsburg, West Virginia, family home said when contacted by the Times Thursday.
Beckstrom’s death means that Lakanwal, currently facing three counts of assault with intent to kill, will now face “murder in the first degree,” something U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro of the District of Columbia vowed would be the case if either Bergstrom or Wolfe died from their wounds during a Thanksgiving Day press conference.
“As we stand here today, the charges that are appropriate right now are three accounts of assault with intent to kill. He will be charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces 15 years under the assault with the intent to kill,” Pirro told reporters. “We intend to continue monitoring what the charges will be depending upon the well-being of the guardsmen. We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge: Murder in the first degree.”
According eyewitnesses, Lakanwal allegedly shouted “Allahu akbar!” before opening fire on the National Guardsmen with a Smith and Wesson revolver. Upon coming under attack, one National Guardsman who didn’t have a firearm stabbed Lakanwal with a pocketknife, while an armed National Guardsman shot the suspected gunman multiple times,
Amidst the tragedy, there’s a new debate about arming the NGM with heavy response equipment, as many are alleged to be carrying rubber bullets.