OSV News – Catholic bishops are offering prayers following the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in the nation’s capital Nov. 26.
The midafternoon attack, believed to be perpetrated by a lone suspect now in custody, killed 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, who succumbed to her injuries in the hospital Nov. 27, and left 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe – in critical condition.
President Donald Trump announced Beckstrom’s passing Nov. 27 during his Thanksgiving evening video calls to U.S. troops, saying the young woman – whom he described as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person,” was “no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now.”
Immediately after the attack, West Virginia Gov. Patrick James Morrisey had announced both troops had been killed. He later clarified the two were initially in critical condition.
Authorities have named the suspect as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal. The Afghan national – a resident of Washington state and a father of five – had previously worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan.
Lakanwal had been permitted to enter the U.S. in 2021 on the basis of that work, which ended after the “chaotic evacuation” that marked the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that same year, CIA director John Ratcliffe told CBS News.
“We are praying for the healing of the injured National Guard members and will continue to monitor the situation,” Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News.
In a Nov. 27 post on X, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, also called for prayer for the wounded National Guard members, adding, “This latest act of political violence is deeply troubling and should call our minds and hearts to our need for God and his saving grace.
“Now is the time for fervent prayer for these National Guardsmen and for peace in our nation this Thanksgiving and always,” said Bishop Burbidge.
At a press conference a few hours after the shootings, FBI Director Kash Patel said the attack would be “treated at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer.”
In August, President Donald Trump federalized more than 2,000 National Guard troops, deploying them to the nation’s capital to combat crime, despite protests from Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
A federal judge in Washington – responding to a suit brought by the District of Columbia against the Trump administration – temporarily blocked the deployment last week, saying in a Nov. 20 opinion the move had appeared illegal for a number of reasons, and staying her order until Dec. 11 “to permit orderly proceedings on appeal.”
Trump has authorized similar deployments in several cities, with troops assigned to provide security at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities – a policy that has drawn controversy.
Following today’s attack – which took place not far from the White House – Trump ordered an additional 500 National Guard troops deployed in Washington, said Pete Hegseth, secretary of war.
The two National Guard troops injured in Washington had been on “high visibility patrols” at the time of the shooting, said Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, during today’s press conference.
Trump – currently in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Thanksgiving holliday – posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, the “animal that shot the two National Guardsmen … will pay a very steep price.”
He added, “God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina
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