National Guard Member Sarah Beckstrom’s Dad Says She Will Not Recover From ‘Mortal Wound’

(photo credit: MS NOW)

The father of 20-year-old National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom told The New York Times on Thursday his daughter is not expected to recover from the “mortal wound” she suffered a day earlier, when an Afghan migrant shot her and another troop in Washington, D.C.

“I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom told The Times when reached by phone. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”

He declined to speak further, the NYT said.

Beckstrom was identified alongside fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, as the two victims of Wednesday’s heinous attack. She is a native of Summersville, West Virginia, and has been serving the country since mid-2023.

Both Beckstrom and Wolfe had been deployed to D.C. since August, when President Donald Trump sent troops to the nation’s capital to crack down on crime. Trump and Pete Hegseth both said on Wednesday that they would be sending 500 more National Guard members to D.C. following the attack.

The suspected shooter is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who entered the U.S. on a visa, following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021; Lakanwal overstayed his visa and remained in the U.S. illegally.

Trump on Wednesday night ripped Lakanwal as an “animal” who will “pay a very steep price” for the shooting.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday that the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. He also confirmed the bureau was looking into Lakanwal’s communications with individuals in Afghanistan.

CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang reported it was an “ambush attack” at a subway station only a few blocks away from the White House. The shooting took place around 3:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

A man who answered the phone at Sergeant Wolfe’s house, when The Times called on Thursday, said, “All we need right now are prayers for my son.”