A West Virginia National Guard member remains in serious condition after he and a fellow guard member were shot in an ambush in downtown Washington, but he is showing encouraging signs of improvement, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was able to respond with a thumbs-up when prompted by a nurse and also wiggled his toes, Morrisey told reporters at a Dec. 1 briefing.
“We take that as a positive sign,” he said.
Morrisey also credited Wolfe’s mother, Melody Wolfe, for her steady resolve and public call for prayers.
“Melody, the mom, has been so positive a force, and she’s been asking people across the country to pray for her son,” the governor said. “Those prayers are working.”
Maj. Gen. Jim Seward, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, echoed the call for continued support for both Wolfe’s family and the family of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, the other guard member who was shot. Beckstrom died from her injuries.
“Andy’s mom has asked for prayers,” Seward said.
He noted that she asked him to tell anyone he meets, “Continue to pray for Andy, their family, for Sarah’s family, and for all of our National Guard.”
The deadly assault occurred on the afternoon of Nov. 26 near Washington’s Farragut West Metro station, where Wolfe and Beckstrom were performing security duties.
Investigators said the suspected shooter, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, opened fire without provocation using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. Federal prosecutors announced on Nov. 28 that Lakanwal now faces a first-degree murder charge in Beckstrom’s death. He was initially charged with assault with intent to kill while armed and with possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.
“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in an interview with Fox News.
Lakanwal is an Afghan national who had worked with U.S. government entities in Afghanistan, including the CIA, as a part of the local partner force, according to former CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that Lakanwal entered the United States through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, which admitted Afghans evacuated in the wake of the Taliban takeover in the summer of 2021.
The initiative ultimately brought roughly 76,000 Afghan nationals to the United States, many of whom had served alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters, translators, and support personnel during the 20-year war. The program has faced intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump and members of Congress over whether these individuals underwent proper and necessary vetting before being released from military bases and allowed into U.S. communities.
“This program let in thousands of unvetted Afghan nationals including terrorists into our country,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Trump, who condemned the shooting as “an act of evil, an act of hatred, and an act of terror,” has called for a full reinvestigation of all Afghans who entered the United States under the Biden administration. He also vowed to freeze immigration from “Third World countries” after Beckstrom’s death was confirmed.
Morrisey said he appreciated the president’s effort.
“I think when you have millions of people coming in—undocumented aliens, or situations where there are loopholes, as presumably happened here—that has to be cleaned up,” he said.
