The man accused of opening fire on two members of the National Guard who are patrolling in Washington, D.C., has officially been charged with the murder of one of them.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal was officially charged on Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill while armed and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, The Washington Post reported.
More charges may be filed as the investigation continues.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had said that the charges were to be filed after one of the West Virginia National Guardsmen, Spec. Sarah Beckstrom died. She and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, “were shot at point-blank range,” President Donald Trump had said last week.
They had been deployed to the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s push against crime.
Wolfe is still in the hospital in critical condition.
Lakanwal was also shot and appeared in court virtually from his hospital bed. He pleaded not guilty.
He is being held without bond. DC Superior Court Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond said, “No condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community," CNN reported.
“It is fairly clear that he came across the country, 3,000 miles, armed, with a specific purpose in mind,” the judge said.
Lakanwal drove from his home in northwest Washington state, where he lives with his wife and children, to Washington, D.C.
The man, who was from Afghanistan and worked with the CIA as part of the counterterrorism group called “Zero Unit,” came to the U.S. in 2021 under a program from former President Joe Biden’s administration, but Lakanwal was granted asylum in April under the Trump administration, the Post reported.
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