The father of Beckstrom, one of the wounded members, told the New York Times his daughter was unlikely to survive. “I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom told the newspaper.
Patel described the shootings as a “heinous act of terrorism,” but neither he nor Pirro offered a possible motive.
The assailant appeared to have acted alone, said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
The suspect has been identified by authorities as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who lived in Washington state with his wife and five children.
“He drove his vehicle cross-country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation’s capital,” Pirro said.
Lakanwal, who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire before he was arrested, had been involved with US partner forces during the war in Afghanistan, Patel said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Lakanwal had worked with CIA-backed local units in Afghanistan.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the US during the Afghanistan war and feared reprisals from Taliban forces who seized control after the US withdrawal there.
Source: CNA
