Rahmanullah Lakanwal, D.C. National Guard shooting suspect, pleads not guilty to federal charges

Washington — The man accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., late last year pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, was arraigned in federal court in Washington and entered a not-guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the case, said the suspected gunman will remain detained pending a trial.

He faces nine federal charges, including first-degree murder while armed.

Prosecutors allege that Lakanwal shot Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in an ambush-style attack not far from the White House on Nov. 26. Beckstrom and Wolfe served in the West Virginia National Guard and had been deployed to the capital as part of President Trump’s plan to crack down on crime.

Beckstrom, 20, was shot in the head and died the next day. Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded.

Lakanwal was shot and wounded by another National Guard member during the attack. He was taken into custody by the U.S. Secret Service. He made his first court appearance virtually from a hospital bed.

Prosecutors said that Lakanwal acquired the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver used in the attack from an unnamed person, who told investigators that it had been stolen from the Seattle home of its original owner in 2023. Lakanwal also bought ammunition from a sporting goods store in Bellingham, Washington, days before the shooting and conducted a search on Google Maps for “Washington, D.C.,” and “the White House,” according to court filings.

Prosecutors believe that Lakanwal drove from Washington state, where he lived with his wife and their five sons, to Washington, D.C., and arrived several days before the shooting.

Sources told CBS News in December that Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 as part of a program for Afghan nationals called Operation Allies Welcome, which was rolled out during the Biden administration after the U.S. government’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He and his family fled threats from the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Khost province and moved to Kabul before traveling to the U.S., sources said.

A spokesperson for the CIA confirmed that Lakanwal had worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, during the Afghanistan war.