Two West Virginia National Guard members were left in critical condition after a midday shooting near the White House, which D.C. officials described as a targeted attack. The suspected gunman, who was also wounded, was taken into custody and hospitalized, authorities said.
President Trump called the incident a monstrous, ambush-style attack and said the suspect was a foreign national who arrived from Afghanistan in September 2021. He blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies and said all who entered the U.S. from Afghanistan during President Biden’s term would be reviewed. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the suspect had come to the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, the program that resettled Afghans and others who aided the U.S. after the Taliban takeover.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to send 500 additional National Guard personnel to Washington, D.C., a move the president confirmed. That would supplement roughly 2,200 troops already deployed there as part of patrol and beautification missions ordered by the White House.
According to Jeffrey Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, the shooting took place around 2:15 p.m. Carroll said the gunman came around a corner and opened fire on the Guardsmen while they were on patrol. Nearby Guard members quickly intervened and subdued the shooter, though authorities said it was unclear which person fired the shots that wounded the suspect. The two injured Guardsmen and the shooter were all taken to a hospital.
Earlier, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey mistakenly reported that the Guardsmen had been killed, then retracted that statement as conflicting reports emerged. Officials later clarified both servicemembers were critically wounded and remained hospitalized.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau will lead the investigation and that the case will be prosecuted federally as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. As of Wednesday evening no motive had been publicly identified. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the person responsible would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
President Trump, who was in Florida at the time, posted on Truth Social condemning the shooter and saying the suspect would pay a very steep price.
More than 2,000 National Guard personnel have been deployed to Washington in recent months for patrol and beautification duties, many brought in from other states; the military task force said about 179 came from West Virginia. Those deployments began in early August at the president’s direction amid concerns about the city’s crime rate. Last week a federal judge ruled that the use of troops in D.C. was unlawful and ordered an end to the deployment, but the judge’s preliminary injunction has not yet taken effect to allow time for an appeal.