US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday afternoon that one of the two National Guard soldiers who were attacked in Washington on Wednesday had been killed. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of serious injuries after being shot in the chest and head. “He just died. He’s no longer with us. He looks down on us now,” the president said during his Thanksgiving address.
Beckstrom’s father, in statements made by L New York Timeshe had already shared his negative diagnosis. “I’m holding her hand now,” he said. “He has been mortally wounded. He will not recover.”
Authorities are expected to file first-degree murder charges, along with other weapons charges, against Rahmanullah Lakkanwal, the man arrested in connection with the attack. The 29-year-old Afghan national shot Beckman and his accomplice, Andrew Wolfe, 24, near the Farragut West subway station, near the White House. Wolf remains in hospital after undergoing emergency surgery.
According to US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, both had begun their new deployment to Washington just 24 hours earlier. Prosecutor Pam Bondi added that Beckstrom volunteered to work holiday shifts so his colleagues could spend Thanksgiving with their families.