00:00A lone gunman opened fire without provocation, ambush style, armed with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.
00:10One guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the guardsman again.
00:19Another guardsman is struck several times.
00:23Fellow guardsmen who were there responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat, and subduing him at the scene.
00:32He was transported to a local hospital, where he remains, as we speak, under heavy guard.
00:40Thanks to the swift and coordinated response of the National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Department, no additional victims were harmed, and the scene was secured within minutes.
00:52The suspect, he has been identified as Ramanullah Lekhanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who entered the United States under Biden's Operation Allies Welcome, a program following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
01:13He resided in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and, we believe, five children.
01:21And we're working very closely with our federal partners, especially DHS and the FBI, to review his immigration history and the vetting process itself.
01:32What we know about him is that he drove his vehicle across country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation's capital.
01:45As we stand here today, the charges that are appropriate right now are three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, a violation of D.C. Code 22-401 and D.C. Code 22-4502.
02:06He will also be charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
02:11He faces 15 years under the assault with the intent to kill.
02:16We intend to continue monitoring what the charges will be, depending upon the well-being of the guardsmen.
02:25We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree.
Be the first to comment