Two National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded on Wednesday in downtown Washington near the White House in what officials described as a targeted ambush.
Investigators identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national from Washington State, according to two Trump administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, one official said.
Lakanwal came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, according to the second official, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war.
He was processed through Washington Dulles International Airport on 8 September of that year.
Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on 23 April of this year, according to the official, three months after President Donald Trump took office. He has no criminal history.
Trump, who was at his resort in Florida at the time of the attack, released a prerecorded video statement late on Wednesday calling the shooting "an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror."
He said his administration would "re-examine" all Afghans who came to the U.S. during Joe Biden's presidency.
The two soldiers, members of the West Virginia National Guard, were part of a "high-visibility patrol" near the corner of 17th and I streets, a few blocks from the White House.
The suspect came around a corner and "ambushed" them, Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said at a press briefing.
After an exchange of gunfire, other National Guard troops subdued the shooter, he said. The two wounded soldiers were in critical condition at local hospitals, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
"This is a targeted attack," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the briefing.
The shooter appeared to have acted alone, officials said.
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