Hours earlier, the federal prosecutor in Washington, DC had charged the suspect with three counts of attempted murder and one count of illegal possession of a firearm.
At a press conference, Jeanine Pirro identified the two victims of the attack as Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe, members of the West Virginia National Guard. deployed in Washington for security missions, who remain in critical condition.
The suspect, Ramanullah Lajanwala 29-year-old Afghan citizen residing in Bellingham, Washington, entered the United States on repatriation flights organized during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
US authorities said that the suspect appeared from a corner and surprised the National Guard soldiers, who were part of a patrol team. He immediately opened fire on the soldiers, having been subsequently immobilized by other elements of the National Guard who rushed to the scene.
The CIA confirmed that Lajanwal worked with an agency-supported military unit in Kandahar during the war in Afghanistan, with the director, John Ratcliffe, blaming previous immigration policies for serious security failures.
Donald Trump classified the attack as a “act of hate” and one “crime against the entire nation”highlighting the need to reinforce the military presence in Washington as part of the federal offensive against crime.
Following the attack, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the sending 500 more soldiers to the capitalwhere National Guard troops from several states are already deployed.