Additional charges have been filed against the man accused of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard while they were on duty in Washington, D.C.
The latest filing also has more information about events that led up to the shooting, with allegations that the suspect sought and obtained a stolen gun and that he had conducted online searches for the White House.
Federal prosecutors in the Tuesday filing added two felonies for transporting and selling firearms internationally against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national.
Lakanwal had already been charged with first-degree murder, illegal possession of a firearm and assault with intent to kill.
ALERT:
New criminal complaint has been filed in US District Court for DC leveling five federal felonies against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, alleging he murdered West Virginia National Guard Member Sarah Beckstrom and wounded WV Guard member Andrew Wolfe.
The five charges are:…
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 23, 2025
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot Nov. 26 while on duty in Washington, D.C. Beckstrom died on Thanksgiving Day, and Wolfe continues to recover from serious injuries.
Beckstrom and Wolfe were on duty near the Farragut West public transportation hub at the corner of 17th and I Streets NW, Washington, D.C.
An affidavit filed along with the new charges includes an investigators description of how Lakanwal got the gun believed to be used in the shooting.
The weapon that Lakanwal is accused of using to shoot Beckstrom and Wolfe was a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, which was recovered from the scene. The revolver has a capacity for five rounds.
Around Oct. 15, according to the affidavit, Lakanwal sent a message to “find this stuff for me” to someone he believed could obtain weapons for him. That included photographs of a couple of kinds of semiautomatic weapons.
Lakanwal’s message told the source that he needed the weapons to protect himself for his work as a rideshare driver, according to the affidavit, although court records indicate he had not worked for the major rideshare companies for several months.
The potential source initially responded that he could not provide the weapons because gun laws are too strict, according to the affidavit. But the affidavit indicates that between Oct. 15 and Nov. 13, Lakanwal asked twice more.
On Nov. 14, Lakanwal and the potential source for guns agreed to meet, according to the affidavit.
The source of the gun, who is not named in the affidavit, told investigators that he provided Lakanwal with the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The gun had been stolen from the Seattle, Washington, home of a man who died in February, 2023.
During the exchange, according to the affidavit, Lakanwal remarked with words to the effect of “only five rounds?”
The man who provided the gun said he did so because he believed Lakanwal wanted it for personal protection for work as a rideshare driver. But the man said he believed Lakanwal’s request for semiautomatic weapons was inconsistent with the stated purpose of self-protection and also would be large and difficult to conceal.
A day after buying the gun, Lakanwal bought a box of additional .357 caliber ammunition from Big 5 Sporting Goods in Bellingham, Wash.
About two hours later, that same day, Lakanwal searched “Washington, D.C.” in an online mapping program. And the next day, he searched “The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500.
The shooting Lakanwal is accused of committing on Nov. 26 occurred about two blocks from the White House.
Investigators believe Lakanwal traveled from Washington State to the District of Columbia in a Toyota Prius between Nov. 16 and 22.
Video from a location near the crime scene shows the suspect standing on the sidewalk of I Street outside the Farragut West Metro station for about a minute, looking west toward the intersection with 17th Street, according to the affidavit. The suspect then began running in the direction of the intersection.
About 2:13 p.m. Nov. 26, Beckstrom and Wolfe were among the National Guard members on patrol near the Farragut West metro transportation stop.
According to the affidavit, two majors in the National Guard who were supervising the patrol in the area approached Beckstrom and Wolfe and engaged in conversation.
Shots rang out as the suspect rounded the corner and fired. One of the majors told investigators he heard the shots, saw Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground and witnessed the suspect, who was dressed in a knee-length, dark-colored jacket and armed with a revolver, fire additional shots.
That major pulled out his service weapon and fired shots at the suspect, who fell to the ground and was detailed by the second major.
At the hospital, where Lakanwal was transported for treatment for his injuries, he was identified through fingerprint analysis.