Washington, DC – Federal prosecutors have charged 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national living in Bellingham, Washington, in connection with the ambush-style shooting that killed National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe near Farragut Square last month.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Lakanwal faces new federal counts of transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and transporting a stolen firearm across state lines. He also remains charged under D.C. law with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possessing a firearm during a violent crime.
Prosecutors allege that Lakanwal drove a Toyota Prius from Bellingham to Washington, D.C., in late November while carrying a stolen .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. On November 26, at approximately 2:13 p.m., authorities say he opened fire without provocation at 17th and I Streets NW, near the Farragut West Metro Station, striking Beckstrom and Wolfe in the head. Two National Guard officers nearby subdued and disarmed the gunman before police arrived.
Investigators later determined that the weapon had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023. Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries the following day on Thanksgiving, while Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in serious condition.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the case’s transfer from Superior Court to U.S. District Court, saying it allows for “the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate.”
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, with prosecution led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
