“A Tragic Loss”: Trump Announces Death of Soldier Sarah Beckstrom — White House to Re-Evaluate Afghan Refugee Screening

The FBI searched multiple properties on Thursday as it widened its investigation into a shooting in Washington on Wednesday, that has left one national guard member dead and another in a critical condition.

The search including a home in Washington state linked to the suspect, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who officials said was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the US in 2021 under a resettlement program.

Agents seized numerous electronic devices from the residence, including mobile phones, laptops, and iPads, and interviewed his relatives, FBI director Kash Patel told a news conference.

Later on Thursday, Donald Trump announced that Sarah Beckstrom, one of the national guard troops shot in Washington DC, had died.

Beckstrom, 20, was one of two members of the national guards shot; the other member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.

Beckstrom’s father had told the New York Times in a phone call earlier in the day that his daughter was unlikely to recover. “I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom said. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”

Both Beckstrom and Wolfe belonged to the West Virginia National Guard, which deployed hundreds of troops to Washington as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission in the capital.

On Thursday, West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, confirmed Beckstrom’s death in a social media post: “Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation. She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard.”

Beckstrom, from Webster Springs, West Virginia, entered service in June 2023.

Authorities have identified the suspect in the attack as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29.

Little is known yet about his life, but officials have confirmed that Lakanwal came to the US in September 2021 from his native Afghanistan under a program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas. He was granted asylum in April this year, under the Trump administration, Reuters reported. Lakanwal worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the CIA has confirmed.

A resident of eastern Afghanistan who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin told the Associated Press that he was originally from the province of Khost. The cousin, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said Lakanwal had worked in a special Afghan Army unit.

A former official from the unit, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader.

The cousin said Lakanwal started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012, and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist.

Lakanwal’s former landlord, Kristina Widman, said Lakanwal had been living in Washington state with his wife and five children.