An Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been identified as the suspected shooter in the ambush attack that wounded two National Guard troops just blocks away from the White House on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The CIA said Thursday that Lakanwal previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The suspect was shot by another Guard member and taken into custody, officials said. He is currently hospitalized.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that the suspect will be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, and he will also be charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The charges could still change pending the condition of the Guardsmen.
Here’s what we know about the suspect so far. This story will be updated as additional information is confirmed.
Suspect entered U.S. 4 years ago
Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States in 2021, multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News on Wednesday.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on X that the suspect was paroled into the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, under a Biden-era program for Afghan nationals called Operation Allies Welcome.
President Trump described him as “a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth,” in a video message late Wednesday. He said the suspect’s status was extended “under legislation signed by President Biden.”
A Department of Homeland Security official told CBS News the suspect was paroled into the U.S. on humanitarian grounds back in 2021. That was the main legal mechanism the Biden administration used to welcome tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
Lakanwal later applied for asylum with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2024 and his application was granted in 2025, the DHS official said. But his request for a green card, which is tied to the asylum grant, is pending.
Many of the Afghan nationals who were admitted to the U.S. in 2021 were issued special immigrant visas offered to those who worked alongside the military during its 20-year war, while others were given a temporary humanitarian status known as parole.
More than 8,000 people from Afghanistan were also granted deportation relief under a separate program called temporary protected status, which Biden extended in 2023 but Mr. Trump chose to end earlier this year.
Suspect had worked with U.S. forces and CIA in Afghanistan
A CIA spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the suspect worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, during the war in Afghanistan.
CBS News has also learned that the suspect led a team in the former Afghan national armed forces that worked directly with U.S. and British forces.
According to a former Afghan commando who spoke with CBS News on Thursday, Lakanwal led a unit of Afghan…
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