On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump said in a Thanksgiving Day phone call with U.S. troops that West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom had died. Beckstrom, 20, of Webster Springs, was one of the two troops shot Wednesday in what officials described as a “targeted” ambush near the Farragut Square Metro station, a few blocks from the White House.
“She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us,” Trump said on the call. “She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened.”
The other guardsman, identified as 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe of Martinsburg, remains in critical condition. “He’s fighting for his life,” Trump said, “and hopefully we’ll get better news.”
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. He was also shot, and is being treated at a different hospital.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey celebrated Beckstrom for her “courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation” in an X post.
He said she “answered the call to serve” and “stepped forward willingly.”
“Today, we honor her bravery and her sacrifice as we mourn the loss of a young woman who gave everything she had in defense of others,” Morrisey added.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also quickly took to social media: “There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew.”
Trump called in approximately 2,000 National Guard troops from other states to the nation’s capital in August to address what he called “out of control crime.” The District of Columbia sued the administration, and a federal judge earlier this month ruled the deployment illegal, saying the federal government had exceeded its authority.
The ruling is not set to take effect until Dec. 11, however, to allow for appeal proceedings.
About 160 Guard troops from West Virginia remained deployed in the district as of last week, when Morrisey extended their assignment through the end of the year.
Meredith Bennett-Smith
Meredith Bennett-Smith is the Senior Executive Editor of MS NOW.