Judge orders Rahmanullah Lakanwal held without bail after deadly shooting in Washington, DC caused ‘sheer terror’
The man accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in an attack in the United States capital Washington DC has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and assault charges.
Rahmanullah Lakhanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, made his first court appearance Tuesday, remotely via video from his hospital bed. Lakanwal was also shot in the incident, and his lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
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A judge in Washington said Wednesday’s shootings caused “absolute terror” in the nation’s capital and ordered that Lacanwal, who previously served with a CIA-trained unit in his native Afghanistan during the U.S. occupation of that country, be held without bond.
Two members of the National Guard, deployed by the Trump administration to Washington, D.C. as part of an anti-crime effort, were targeted in the attack.
A 20-year-old specialist named Sarah Beckstrom was killed, and 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was wounded in the shooting, which Republicans immediately called for more restrictions on immigration to the US.
Prosecutors allege Lacanwal traveled from Washington state to Washington, D.C., on the other side of the country to carry out the deadly attack.
US news outlets have reported that Lakhanwal, who was evacuated from Afghanistan after the fall of the US-backed government in 2021, had become increasingly disillusioned about the direction of his life after the war, becoming isolated and allies growing concerned about his mental state.
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