(The Hill) — Authorities disclosed that a man accused of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday embarked on a cross-country journey from Washington state with the intention of committing the attack. This announcement came during a Thursday morning press briefing.

Earlier that day, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) revealed that the suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, had been employed by the agency in Afghanistan before the U.S. withdrew from the region in 2021, the same year he relocated to the United States.

FBI Director Kash Patel further elaborated during the press conference, confirming that Lakanwal had established connections with partner forces in Afghanistan.

Lakanwal is now facing charges including three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and one count of firearm possession during a violent crime. These charges could result in a maximum sentence of 15 years. Nonetheless, Attorney General Pam Bondi indicated on Fox News that prosecutors aim to pursue the death penalty.

The victims have been identified as Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24. Both individuals are in critical condition and were undergoing surgery as of Thursday morning.

The charges against Lakanwal could be upgraded to murder if one of the Guard members dies, noted Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, during the press conference.

Both Guard members were shot at around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station in the area of 17th and I streets NW, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) stated.

Lakanwal, who was shot by a Guardsman near the shooting, was hospitalized and remains in custody. Lakanwal lived in Bellingham, Wash., with his wife and children.

“What we know about him is that he drove his vehicle across country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital,” Pirro added.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe released a statement Thursday confirming the suspect’s ties to the agency, but said Lakanwal “should have never been allowed to come here.”

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden Withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” Ratcliffe said in a statement obtained by NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” he added. “Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden Administration’s catastrophic failures.”

Authorities have been in contact with Beckstrom and Wolfe’s families, Pirro said.

“I also want to say that both Sarah and Andrew, I believe, were sworn in less than 24 hours before they were shot on the street in Washington,” she added.

Patel said the FBI is working with the MPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in its investigation of the shooting. The FBI director called the shooting “a heinous act of terrorism here in our nation’s capital.”

Late Wednesday night, President Trump called the shooting “an act of terror” and said the suspected shooter would pay “the steepest possible price.”