A hero National Guardsman was seen gunning down suspected DC terror shooter Rahmanullah Lakanwal seconds after the Afghan opened fire on two soldiers.
The unidentified soldier let off five rounds immediately after Lakanwal, 29, is said to have ambushed Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Backstrom, 20, who has since died.
Footage captured by a bystander in a vehicle showed Lakanwal carrying a snub nose revolver, he was seen on the ground seconds later.
Lakanwal is in custody while hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds sustained in the shootout.
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Thursday that the lone gunman was armed with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver when he allegedly opened fire on the two ‘without provocation, ambush style.’
She said: ‘One guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the guardsman again. Another guardsman is struck several times.
‘Fellow guardsmen who were there responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat and subduing him at the scene.’
Donald Trump announced the death of Backstrom on Thursday evening after she succumbed to her injuries.
‘She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down on us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened. She was savagely attacked, she’s dead.’
Trump went on to say Beckstrom was ‘an incredible person. Outstanding in every single way, department.’
He said the attack was ‘just horrible.’
According to authorities, Lakanwal drove across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to DC before he fired at the troops.
He was brought to the United States in 2021 as part of Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome, following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The program evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US exited.
Prior to his arrival, the suspect worked with the US, including the CIA, ‘as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,’ John Ratcliffe, the spy agency’s director said.
He did not specify what work Lakanwal did, but said the relationship ‘ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation’ of US service members from Afghanistan.
The two victims were on the ground inside the city as part of Trump’s ongoing effort to clean up the streets of DC.
Following the shooting, the President’s administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to the city.
On Thursday, Trump announced he would ‘permanently pause migration’ from third developing countries and ordered a green card audit of 19 nations in response to the attack.
He also vowed to end all federal benefits for noncitizens, denaturalize migrants who undermine the US, and deport any foreign nationals deemed a security risk or ‘non-compatible with Western Civilization.’
‘I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover,’ he wrote on Truth Social.
Pirro said the suspect remains under heavy guard inside a hospital following the shooting.
He currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and in possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Pirro said during the press conference that ‘it’s too soon to say’ what the suspect’s motives were.
She added: ‘We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree.
‘But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.’
