First National Guard capturing sufferer named as Trump condemns ‘act of terror’ in Washington DC – dwell updates

Attorney General Pam Bondi said law enforcement would be seeking the death penalty, if applicable, for the person suspected of shooting two National Guard members.

On Fox & Friends Thursday morning, Bondi said law enforcement was looking at seeking the harshest charges possible against the shooter, though she noted that the situation was fluid.

Both National Guard members are still hospitalized, though “fighting for their lives,” Bondi said. As of now, the attorney general said they’re looking at charges of “Minimum life in prison with terrorism charges.”

However, should the National Guard members die, “We will do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster,” Bondi said

The 44th president, whom Trump has blamed for the shooting and who is currently recovering from cancer treatment, has expressed his sorrow over yesterday’s events.

Here’s some more reaction from Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson and California Democrats Gavin Newsom and Ro Khanna.

This is the statement put out by the District of Columbia National Guard in response to the gun attack on two of their own yesterday:

General Steven Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, subsequently said in a video posted to X that he and his senior enlisted advisor, John Raines, will travel from Guantanamo Bay to Washington, D.C., today to be with their fellow guardsmen.

“The chief and I were planning to spend Thanksgiving with our Guard and joint force troops here in Guantanamo Bay, but we’re returning to Washington, D.C., to be with our guardsmen there who continue to protect the capital city,” Raines said.

Nordhaus added: “We are devastated by this senseless act of violence, and we will remain on station to defend and protect our fellow citizens at home and abroad.”

Here’s Harry Cockburn with a closer look at the Biden-era resettlement program introduced to support Afghan nationals who had assisted the American military during the War on Terror under which Rahmanullah Lakanwal first entered the United States.

Advocacy group AfghanEvac has condemned the attack in Washington D.C. but warned that the incident should not be used to “isolate or harm” Afghans who have resettled in the U.S.

“We reject and condemn anyone who uses, or seeks to use, violence, and we stand with every American who is horrified and saddened by this crime,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego-based group.

In a statement shared online he said that the perpetrator should face “full accountability and prosecution under the law” and that “this individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community.”

“Those who would twist this moment to attack Afghan families aren’t seeking safety or justice – they’re exploiting division and endangering all of us,” he said.

VanDiver added Afghan immigrants and wartime allies who resettle in the U.S. undergo extensive security vetting.

A few more details on precisely what happened at the Metro station here from CBS News’s Jennifer Jacobs, who reports that the attacker discharged all four shots from his own gun at the two Guards before taking one of the downed officer’s weapons and continuing firing, until he was taken out by a third Guard.

This is what the secretary of war had to say in response to yesterday’s attack.

The Department of Homeland Security has taken an Afghan national into custody over yesterday’s shooting, with the suspect since identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old who has been living in Washington state since 2021 and had no known criminal history prior to yesterday’s incident.

He is understood to have entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan and feared reprisals from Taliban forces once they retook control of their homeland after the American withdrawal four years ago.

However, as we saw earlier, CNN is reporting that Lakanwal submitted a new asylum application in December 2024 that was granted by the Trump administration in April this year.

NBC News has meanwhile reported that he served in the Afghan army for 10 years, served alongside U.S. Special Forces and was stationed in Kandahar for part of that time.

The shooter appears to have acted alone, officials have said, and the FBI’s joint terrorism task force is currently investigating what drove him to open fire in what officials called an “ambush” attack on Thanksgiving eve.

Here’s Rachel Dobkin and Alex Croft with everything we know about Wednesday’s events.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially announced on X yesterday that the two Guardsmen shot in D.C. had died of their injuries, before subsequently issuing a follow-up post saying he had received “conflicting reports” about their wellbeing.

This is the last we heard from him, speaking to Charlie Hurt on Fox News.