Donald Trump issued a bold statement following the shooting that took place close to the White House yesterday and sent the capitol into lockdown.
Two members of the US National Guard were shot in an incident described by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser as a ‘targeted shooting’.
The two guardsmen, members of the West Virginia National Guard, are currently in hospital in critical condition, while the suspected shooter was shot four times at the scene, law enforcement sources told CBS News.
President Trump reacted furiously in a post on Truth Social, describing the suspect as an “animal”.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price. God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement,” Trump said.
“These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
According to BBC News, the Trump administration filed an emergency motion aimed at keeping National Guard troops in DC. Trump also asked Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to send 500 more National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.
Multiple law-enforcement officials have identified the suspected gunman as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national.
According to sources who spoke with ABC News, Lakanwal arrived in the United States from Afghanistan in September 2021. He later sought asylum in 2024 and was approved in April 2025, during the Trump administration.
In the wake of the shooter being identified as from Afghanistan, US Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has halted requests from Afghan nationals.
The agency wrote on Twitter: “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols. The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and mission.”
Trump, meanwhile, described Afghanistan as ‘a hellhole on earth’, and promised that his administration would review everyone who had entered the US from the country under President Joe Biden, a measure his administration had already been planning to put into motion prior to yesterday’s shooting.
FBI director Kash Patel said the incident would be investigated at a federal level, while Pete Hegseth described the shooting as a “cowardly, dastardly act”, confirming that President Trump had ordered an additional 500 Guard troops to Washington.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this mindless attack.
