00:00Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were critically wounded in a targeted
00:04shooting Wednesday afternoon, November 26, 2025, just blocks from the White House in
00:10downtown Washington, D.C.
00:12The suspected gunman, identified as 29-year-old Afghan National Ramanullah Lackanwal, reportedly
00:19approached the soldiers near Farragut West Metro Station around 2.15 p.m., raised a firearm
00:26and opened fire in what authorities describe as an ambush-style attack.
00:32FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser both described the incident
00:38as a targeted shooting.
00:41President Donald Trump, speaking from Mar-a-Lago, called it a heinous assault and an act of terror,
00:47vowing that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.
00:54This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred, and an act of terror.
01:00It was a crime against our entire nation.
01:03It was a crime against humanity.
01:07The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National
01:12Guard and their families.
01:14Intelligence sources have revealed that Ramanullah Lackanwal had a prior relationship with U.S.
01:19government entities, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force
01:24in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
01:27According to Fox News, Lackanwal served for approximately a decade in the Afghan army alongside
01:33U.S. Special Forces, operating out of fire-based Gecko as part of the CIA-backed Kandahar Strike
01:40force.
01:41He was described by colleagues as reliable, English-fluent, and a vetted, badged E-5 member
01:47of the partner force.
01:49Following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Lackanwal was evacuated to the
01:56United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration's humanitarian
02:04parole initiative that resettled over 76,000 Afghans.
02:10He applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration,
02:18according to multiple law enforcement sources.
02:22His immigration status was legal at the time of the shooting.
02:26The shooting has ignited a fierce partisan blame game over U.S. immigration and refugee
02:30policies, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News.
02:35In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified
02:41bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work
02:47with the U.S. government, including the CIA.
02:50The individual, and so many others, should have never been allowed to come here.
02:55Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from
03:00the Biden administration's catastrophic failures.
03:04President Trump blamed the Biden administration for allowing the shooter into the country,
03:09framing the incident as proof of national security threats from 20 million unknown
03:14and unvetted foreigners.
03:18The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, treating it as a potential act
03:23of international terrorism.
03:26Authorities are examining whether the attack was inspired by an international terrorist organization.
03:32The two wounded guardsmen remain in critical condition as the investigation continues,
03:37with FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro scheduled to hold a news conference.
03:44The shooting represents one of the most serious security incidents involving Afghan evacuees
03:48since the 2021 withdrawal.
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