D.C. National Guard shooting suspect faces new charges, potential death penalty

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, accused of a fatal ambush shooting of a National Guard member and injuring another in Washington, D.C., now faces new charges that could lead to the death penalty. Federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment Tuesday, adding eight counts, including murder of a person assisting an officer of the United States and discharging a firearm during a violent crime causing death. Both charges are eligible for capital punishment.

A D.C.-based federal grand jury also determined that Lakanwal intentionally killed Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and attempted to kill more than one person, factors necessary for prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The Justice Department's Capital Case Committee will now review the case to decide whether to pursue capital punishment. Lakanwal faces numerous other federal and D.C. law charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Lakanwal, an Afghan national, is accused of ambushing Beckstrom and critically wounding Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe last November, just blocks from the White House. Both service members were part of an anti-crime operation. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a program for evacuating Afghan nationals. He was granted asylum last year, though his green card application was pending. While in Afghanistan, he worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, and led an Afghan military unit that collaborated with international forces.

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intentionally killed