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Jeanine Pirro Announces First Degree Murder Charges Against National Guard Shooting Suspect

Jeanine Pirro Announces First Degree Murder Charges Against National Guard Shooting Suspect (Screenshot/Fox News)

United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro of the District of Columbia said authorities upgraded the charges against the suspect accused of killing a National Guard member.

Afghan immigrant Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly shot 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe and 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom with a Smith & Wesson revolver at the Farragut West Metro Station in Washington, D.C., just a mile from the White House. Appearing on “‘Fox & Friends,” Pirro said investigators moved from assault charges to first-degree murder after reviewing initial evidence that showed the 20-year-old soldier was gunned down.

“Oh, there’s no question. First of all, our hearts go out and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of a beautiful 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom who answered the call to serve her nation,” Pirro said when asked about a possible escalation in charges. “And she volunteered. And she ended up being shot ambush style on the cold streets of Washington, D.C. by an individual who will now be charged with murder in the first degree. There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree.”

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Pirro said investigators are working around the clock to uncover how the suspect remained in the country.

“And we are hoping that the more information we can get and the more investigation that is going on 24/7 now, around the clock in Washington,” Pirro said. “The more we will find out about what actually happened in terms of this individual even being in this country and being in a position to ambush and shoot down an innocent young woman who was doing her duty to the people of this country.”

Pirro said Thursday that the two West Virginia National Guardsmen shot in Washington had been sworn in fewer than 24 hours before the attack. Pirro’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Beckstrom and Wolfe received their deputization from the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday.

Authorities said Lakanwal is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole after fleeing the Taliban takeover. CNN reported that the suspect first arrived from Afghanistan in 2021 after clearing several layers of vetting during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.

Miller said on “Anderson 360” that the man later settled in Washington state and lived there for years before traveling to D.C.

“He applies for asylum in December of 2024. Now he goes through another vetting process involving that. And he’s approved for asylum in April of this year under the Trump administration,” Miller said. “He comes in under the Biden administration. These checks are being done. I remember as a part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York where we supplied people for that vetting process, it was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of people. They were being kept in military installations.”

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox News)