Authorities have identified the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House, just a day before Thanksgiving, as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. This information was confirmed by law enforcement sources to Fox News Digital.

Lakanwal was apprehended on Wednesday, with both National Guard members reported to be in critical condition. Officials have indicated that the incident is being probed as a potential act of international terrorism.

As the investigation unfolds, more information about Lakanwal is gradually being revealed.

National Guard members gather in response to reports of a shooting involving two of their own near the White House on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Pathway to the US

In 2021, Lakanwal entered the United States legally under humanitarian parole, a provision of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome. This initiative was launched following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the ensuing Taliban takeover, aiming to assist and resettle vulnerable Afghans, particularly those who had supported American forces.

The suspect reportedly had his asylum application approved during the Trump administration.

Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

“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,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

Streets are blocked after reports of two National Guard soldiers being shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

LIFE IN THE US

Lakanwal had been living in Washington state, two law enforcement officials and a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

His former landlord, Kristina Widman, told the outlet that Lakamal arrived in Bellingham, Wash., about four years ago with his wife and five children.

How he traveled the roughly 2,500 miles to Washington, D.C., ahead of Wednesday’s shooting remains unclear.

How the shooting unfolded

Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said investigators reviewed video that shows the attacker “came around the corner” and immediately started firing at the Guardsmen. Other Guardsmen ran over and tackled the shooter, and he was taken into custody. Investigators believe he was the only gunman.

Emergency personnel gather in a cordoned-off area where National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Carroll said it remains unclear whether a Guardsman or a responding officer shot the suspect. He said no motive has been established.

The alleged gunman was “severely wounded” before being taken into custody, President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account Wednesday afternoon.

Trump later said the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and [an] act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting.”

Officials did not immediately provide updates on the extent of the injuries to the Guardsmen or the suspect.