{"id":176695,"date":"2025-11-27T19:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=176695"},"modified":"2025-11-27T19:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:40:14","slug":"dc-guardsman-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=176695","title":{"rendered":"DC Guardsman dies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Sarah Beckstrom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Multiple sources are reporting that West Virginia National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom, who was shot by an Afghan illegal immigrant in an apparent terrorist attack in DC yesterday, has died from her wounds.<\/p>\n

NY Post reports<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Sarah Beckstrom, one of the West Virginia National Guard members shot in a cowardly ambush by an Afghan refugee Wednesday, has died.<\/p>\n

President Trump announced the passing of the 20-year-old during a Thanksgiving evening call to half a dozen military units to mark the holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s just passed away. She\u2019s no longer with us. She\u2019s looking down at us right now,\u201d a somber Trump told the service members. \u201cIncredible person, outstanding in every single way, in every department. Just horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckstrom had been listed in critical condition after being shot in the chest and the head while standing guard in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

She was rushed into emergency surgery following the alleged terror attack, but her prognosis remained bleak.<\/p>\n

Her father was certain Beckstrom would succumb to her wounds when reached by The New York Times on Thanksgiving Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m holding her hand right now,\u201d Gary Beckstrom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a mortal wound. It\u2019s not going to be a recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro previously announced plans to pursue first-degree murder charges against suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, if one of the two National Guard troops he allegedly shot died from their wounds.<\/p>\n

The suspect was taken down by a third National Guard member who used a pocket knife against him while a fourth opened fire.<\/p>\n

Lakanwal, who was taken to the hospital, is already facing at least three counts of assault with intent to kill and criminal possession of a weapon. Those counts carry up to 15 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Pam Bondi has declared that prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against Lakanwal.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevastated. Please pray for Sarah. Pray for her family,\u201d Bondi posted on X after Beckstrom\u2019s death. \u201cAmerica will never forget her courage. There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew. Thank you to President Trump \u2014 the death penalty is back.\u201d<\/p>\n

National Guardman Andrew Wolfe, 24, was also shot in the attack. Like Beckstrom, Wolfe was rushed into emergency surgery and is still hospitalized.<\/p>\n

Wolfe is currently \u201cfighting for his life,\u201d Trump explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we\u2019ll get better news with respect to him,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd the monster that did this is also in serious condition, but we won\u2019t even talk about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair had been sworn in for their duties just 24 hours earlier, according to US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.<\/p>\n

Beckstrom had volunteered to work the holiday shifts so that others could spend Thanksgiving at home, according to Bondi.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe volunteered to be there on Thanksgiving \u2014 working today \u2014 she volunteered, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families,\u201d Bondi said Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Lakanwal allegedly ambushed the two National Guard members just a few blocks from the White House. He had been lying in wait before opening fire with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver.<\/p>\n

He was shot by return fire from other guard members.<\/p>\n

His motive is not yet clear, but authorities are probing it as a targeted terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

According to Pirro, Lakanwal drove across the country to carry out horror, leaving his home in Bellingham, Washington, which he shares with his wife and five children.<\/p>\n

Lakanwal was a member of the Afghan Army stationed in Kandahar, where he supported US Special Forces in the region.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multiple sources are reporting that West Virginia National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom, who was shot by an … DC Guardsman dies<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":176696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/176696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}