# Two National Guardsmen shot in DC (November 26, 2025), one dead, one in critical condition **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [November 26, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165 "2025-11-26T20:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/21 "2025-11-27T14:16:06Z")
I sure is a good thing that this administration reallocated so many counter-terrorism resources into going after migrants! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/22 "2025-11-27T15:17:45Z")
More complexity. > The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed. > > The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas to the US. > **[Suspect in Washington DC national guard shooting had ties to CIA, agency...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/27/washington-dc-national-guard-shooting-suspect)** > > Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, worked with agency-backed military units during US war in Afghanistan ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/23 "2025-11-27T15:31:52Z")
Moderating: > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > [I _think_ that’s still a breaking news point] Yes, that’s factual, and directly relevant to this story. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I sure is a good thing that this administration reallocated so many counter-terrorism resources into going after migrants! But that’s not. I know this topic is fraught, but let’s try to keep this thread focused on the facts and details. If there’s not a p&e (or pit) thread yet, someone should start one, as I’m sure there will be lots of content for that thread, too. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/24 "2025-11-27T15:32:45Z")
If the two guardsmen were inducted only 24 hrs before being shot then what training were they given regarding the mission and rules for use of force? Perhaps they were activated 24 hours earlier, but even that might require orientation (mission and RUF) and perhaps weapons qualification. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/25 "2025-11-27T18:15:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If there’s not a p&e (or pit) thread yet, someone should start one, as I’m sure there will be lots of content for that thread, too. One was started yesterday: > [@Trump administration response to National Guard attack](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-administration-response-to-national-guard-attack/1025168): > > As a first move the SOD proposes sending in 500 more troops. To do what? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/26 "2025-11-28T00:18:41Z")
White House reports one of the soldiers, Spc Sarah Beckstrom, has succumbed to her wounds. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/27 "2025-11-28T03:25:56Z")
A needless waste of a young life ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/28 "2025-11-28T04:02:48Z")
Yes, that’s very sad. How totally pointless. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/29 "2025-11-28T04:07:16Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > If the two guardsmen were inducted only 24 hrs before being shot then what training were they given regarding the mission and rules for use of force? According to this AP article, it looks like that was _not_ the case – reporting indicates that they had been there since August. > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died from her injuries in Wednesday’s shooting. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained hospitalized in critical condition. > > They were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard to the nation’s capital as part of President Donald Trump’s [crime-fighting mission](https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-crime-national-guard-homelessness-655bc22834223c7dc93115bbcb2b215c) that involved taking over the local police department. There were [nearly 2,200 Guard members](https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-washington-deployment-7b6e68871759525bdccb1ed05bd1a806) from various states in D.C. for the mission. > > Both Beckstrom and Wolfe were on orders in Washington since August, according to the West Virginia National Guard. > > Beckstrom, a resident of Summersville, West Virginia, had volunteered for the operation “to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital,” the West Virginia National Guard said in a statement. She had graduated from Webster County High School in June 2023, and enlisted with the guard that month, serving “with distinction” as a military police officer, the guard said. > **[What we do and don’t know about the shooting of 2 National Guard members in DC](https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-washington-shooting-suspect-b37bc92853ba14625678236318f80751)** > > The brazen daytime shooting of two National Guard members in the nation’s capital by a man described as an Afghan national has raised multiple questions. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/30 "2025-11-28T14:10:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > According to this AP article, it looks like that was _not_ the case Yeah, that’s what I get for believing the news! ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/31 "2025-11-28T14:25:14Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > White House reports one of the soldiers, Spc Sarah Beckstrom, has succumbed to her wounds. Extremely sad. She was 20 years old. What a sad waste. I hope the other guardsman makes a full recovery. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165/32 "2025-11-28T17:13:41Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I get for believing the news! Don’t feel too badly – a friend of mine pretty much quoted the same (mis)information yesterday (that the now-deceased guardswoman had only been there for a couple of days). In a fast-developing story like this, inaccurate information sometimes gets released early on, and the correction may not get propagated as easily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-national-guardsmen-shot-in-dc-november-26-2025-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/1025165.md?page=1)