The man accused of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard while they were on duty in Washington, D.C., pleaded not guilty today to newly filed charges that could result in the death penalty.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, is accused of killing Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and wounding Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe the day before Thanksgiving last year as they were on patrol near a Metro transit stop.
Federal prosecutors today filed a superseding indictment that includes seventeen criminal counts, some of which now make Lakanwal subject to the death penalty under federal law.
Before Judge Amit Mehta in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Lakanwal pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing on the new charges, according to a minute entry in the case. The next status conference is set for 9 a.m. Sept. 16.
Lakanwal’s original charge of first-degree murder was under the District of Columbia Code, which does not permit capital punishment, but new federal counts include federal statutes that cover the murder of persons assisting officers or employees of the United States, including a provision that a person convicted of first-degree murder “shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life.”
The federal grand jury included a “Notice of Special Findings” in the superseding indictment leveling several aggravating factors and mental states required for capital sentencing.
One of those was intent to kill Sarah Beckstrom and intentionally inflicting serious bodily injury that resulted in her death.
Another factor alleges that Lakanwal knowingly created a grave risk of death to one or more people in addition to Beckstrom.
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The potential for multiple victims constituted the final aggravating factor, with the grand jury concluding there’s reason to believe Lakanwal intentionally killed and attempted to kill more than one person, including Wolfe and others at the scene.
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 believed to be Lakanwal 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 an affidavit filed in the case. 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.
The superseding indictment filed against Lakanwal includes 17 counts:
- “Murder of a person assisting an officer and employee of the United States”
- Three counts of “attempted murder of a person assisting an officer and employee of the United States”
- “Transportation of a firearm & ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony”
- “Discharge of a firearm during crime of violence and causing death of person through use of firearm”
- Three counts of “discharge of firearm during crime of violence”
- “First-degree murder while armed (premeditated)”
- Four counts of “possession of a firearm during crime of violence or dangerous offense”
- Three counts of “assault with intent to kill while armed”