US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, one of the National Guard members shot in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, has succumbed to her wounds.
“I must unfortunately tell you that just seconds before I went on, right now I heard that 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. She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now,” Trump said in a Thanksgiving call with US service members.
He added, “She was savagely attacked. She's dead. She's not with us. Incredible person. Outstanding in every single way, in every department. That's horrible.”
Trump also said that Andrew Wolfe, the second National Guard member who was shot, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
“As you know, the other young man is fighting for his life. He’s in very bad shape. He’s fighting for his life. And hopefully we’ll get better news with respect to him,” the President said.
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the US in 2021, who is in custody and is also in critical condition after being shot by another service member.
In remarks he published on Wednesday night, hours after the shooting, Trump described the incident as “an act of terror”.
“My great fellow Americans, earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington, DC were shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House…this heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred, and an act of terror,” said Trump.
“This attack,” the President continued, “underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation. The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world from places that you don't want to even know about. No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.”
“We must now reexamine 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. If they can't love our country, we don't want them,” stated Trump.