National guards shooting suspect worked with CIA in Afghanistan, says FBI director

United States authorities say Rahmanullah Lakanwal, thesuspect in the shooting of two National Guard members, previously worked withthe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan. Lakanwal opened fire on Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and AndrewWolfe, 24, on Wednesday about a mile from the White House, prompting alockdown. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump said Beckstromsuccumbed to her injuries while Wolfe “is fighting for his life”. Trump called the shooter an “animal”, assuring he would paya steep price. Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), said “there is confirmation that the suspect had a relationship inAfghanistan with partner forces”. Patel said the FBI has launched a broad based terrorisminvestigation into that aspect of Lankanwal’s background and to know if he hadany associates. In a separate statement, John Ratcliffe, CIA director, saidthe suspect was brought to the US due to his “prior work with the U.S.Government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar”. Ratcliffe added that the alleged shooter came to the US inthe wake of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Lakanwal arrived in the US in 2021 as part of ‘OperationAllies Welcome’. He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted one in April2025. A former military commander who served alongside him toldthe BBC’s Afghan Service that Lakanwal was a GPS tracker specialist. The “sporty and jolly character” helped guard US forces atKabul airport as thousands scrambled to escape Afghanistan before the Talibantook power. His unit was known locally as Scorpion Forces, operatinginitially under the CIA but eventually for the Afghan intelligence departmentknown as the National Directorate of Security. Lakanwal’s unit was moved from Kandahar to Kabul five daysbefore the Taliban entered the capital. They continued to protect the airportfor another six days, before they too were airlifted to the US. Jeanine Pirro, US attorney, said the suspect will be chargedwith three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, as well aspossession of a firearm. Pirro had spoken before news of Beckstrom’s passing.

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