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Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, has been identified as the gunman accused of shooting two National Guard members just blocks from the White House on the day before Thanksgiving, law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital.
Lakanwal was taken into custody Wednesday, while authorities said both Guard members were in critical condition. Officials said the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.
More details about Lakanwal have slowly come to light in the hours after the shooting.
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Members of the National Guard gather after reports of two National Guard soldiers being shot near the White House on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Pathway to the US
Lakanwal entered the U.S. legally in 2021 under humanitarian parole as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country. The operation aimed to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, including those that had helped U.S. troops in the past.
The suspect reportedly had his asylum application approved during the Trump administration.
Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.
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“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.
Streets are blocked after reports of two National Guard soldiers being shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
LIFE IN THE US
Lakanwal had been living in Washington state, two law enforcement officials and a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
His former landlord, Kristina Widman, told the outlet that Lakamal arrived in Bellingham, Wash., about four years ago with his wife and five children.
How he traveled the roughly 2,500 miles to Washington, D.C., ahead of Wednesday’s shooting remains unclear.
How the shooting unfolded
Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said investigators reviewed video that shows the attacker “came around the corner” and immediately started firing at the Guardsmen. Other Guardsmen ran over and tackled the shooter, and he was taken into custody. Investigators believe he was the only gunman.
Emergency personnel gather in a cordoned-off area where National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Carroll said it remains unclear whether a Guardsman or a responding officer shot the suspect. He said no motive has been established.
The alleged gunman was “severely wounded” before being taken into custody, President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account Wednesday afternoon.
Trump later said the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and [an] act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting.”
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Officials did not immediately provide updates on the extent of the injuries to the Guardsmen or the suspect.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.