A National Guard member has died Thursday evening after being shot near the White House on Wednesday in an ambush that investigators say was carried out by an Afghan national.
President Donald Trump has blamed the attack on what he called Biden-era immigration vetting failures.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her wounds and her fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, was "fighting for his life," Trump said, as investigators conducted what officials said was a terrorism probe after Wednesday's shooting.
Whilst in Florida for Thanksgiving, President Trump said, "She's just passed away. She's no longer with us. She's looking down on us right now. Her parents are with her. It's just happened. She was savagely attacked. She's dead now with this terrible person. Outstanding in every single way, in every department."
"I want to express the anguish and the horror of our entire nation that the terrorist attack yesterday in our nation's capital, in which a savage monster gunned down two service members in the West Virginia National Guard, who were deployed as part of the DC Task Force," Trump added in his first live remarks since the shooting.
The FBI searched multiple properties in a widening investigation, including a home in Washington state linked to the suspect, who officials said was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the U.S. in 2021 under a resettlement programme.
Agents seized numerous electronic devices from the residence of the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, including cellphones, laptops, and iPads, and interviewed his relatives, FBI Director Kash Patel told a news conference.
U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro said the suspect drove cross-country and then ambushed the Guard members while they were patrolling near the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Casting blame on the administration of his White House predecessor, President Joe Biden, Trump said the alleged gunman, who he described as having gone "cuckoo," was among thousands of Afghans who came in unvetted as the U.S. carried out a chaotic withdrawal in 2021.
Trump said the suspect's "atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country."
The alleged assailant, who lived in Washington state with his wife and five children, appeared to have acted alone, said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
Asked whether he was planning to deport the suspect's wife and five children who live in Washington state, Trump said, "We're looking at the whole situation with family."
The programme in which the suspect entered the U.S. was designed with vetting procedures, including by U.S. counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies. It allowed in more than 70,000 Afghan nationals, according to a congressional report.
But the large scale and rushed nature of the evacuations of Afghans led critics to say the background checks were inefficient.
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Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 28th of November, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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