One of the National Guard members shot by an Afghan refugee in Washington, DC, on Wednesday succumbed to her injuries, confirmed US President Donald Trump. While giving a Thanksgiving call to US troops, Trump said he had just learned that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died.
“She's just passed away. She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her,” Trump said, adding that Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was fighting for his life.
Beckstrom was shot in the head and chest with a .357 Magnum-calibre revolver, just blocks from the White House, around 2 p.m. The accused was identified as Afghan refugee Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who worked in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan.
Beckstrom’s fate was almost clear when her father made an emotional statement to The New York Times on Wednesday. “I’m holding her hand right now,” her father, Gary Beckstrom, told The New York Times when reached by phone earlier on Thursday. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery,” he added.
US Us Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X to say that Beckstrom had volunteered for the duty on Thanksgiving Day. “Devastated. Please pray for Sarah. Pray for her family,” Bondi posted after Beckstrom’s death. “America will never forget her courage. There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew. Thank you to President Trump — the death penalty is back.”
.@POTUS announces that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, one of the National Guardsmen savagely attacked yesterday in Washington, D.C., has just passed away.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 27, 2025
May God be with her family 🙏 pic.twitter.com/BEbAOxmJme
“She volunteered to be there on Thanksgiving — working today — she volunteered, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families,” Bondi said on Thursday.
Also read
Earlier, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro revealed the two guardsmen “were sworn in less than 24 hours before they were shot on the street in Washington.”
She started her service on June 6, 2023, and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade of the West Virginia Army National Guard. She, along with the other injured guardsmen, was deployed to Washington in August after Trump ordered the troops to the capital.
Beckstrom’s former boyfriend described her as a “caring and tenderhearted” woman who dreamt of having a career in the FBI. He said that she wasn’t initially excited to go to Washington, but later on grew to enjoy her time there.
