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Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom died.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, now include one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump's crime-fighting mission that federalized the D.C. police force. The president also deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but faced court challenges.

Trump called the shooting a "terrorist attack" and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president says he wants to "permanently pause migration" from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country.

In an interview on Fox News, Pirro said Friday there are "many charges to come" beyond the upgraded murder charge. She said Beckstrom volunteered to serve and "ended up being shot ambush-style on the cold streets of Washington, D.C., by an individual who will now be charged with murder in the first degree."

Pirro declined to discuss the suspect's motive, saying officials are working around the clock on that question. Investigators continue to execute warrants in the state of Washington, where Lakanwal lived, and other parts of the country, she said.

Wolfe remains in "very critical condition," West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Friday. He ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in recognition of Beckstrom's death. 

"These two West Virginia heroes were serving our country and protecting our nation's capital when they were maliciously attacked," Morrisey said. "Their courage and commitment to duty represent the very best of our state."

Immigration

On Wednesday night, Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration initiative that brought about 76,000 people to the country, many of whom worked as interpreters and translators.

The program faced intense scrutiny from Trump and others over allegations of gaps in the vetting process, even as advocates say there was extensive vetting and the program offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.

The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Joseph Edlow said in a statement that the agency would take additional steps to screen people from 19 "high-risk" countries "to the maximum degree possible."

Edlow didn't name the countries. But in June, the administration banned travel to the U.S. by citizens of 12 countries and restricted access from seven others, citing national security concerns.

Since the shooting, administration officials pledged to reexamine millions of legal immigrants, building on a 10-month campaign to reduce the immigrant population.

In a lengthy social media post late Thursday, the Republican president claimed millions of people born outside the U.S. and living in the country bore a large share of the blame for America's societal ills.

Trump was elected on a promise to crack down on illegal migration, and raids and deportations undertaken by his administration disrupted communities across the country. Construction sites and schools have been frequent targets.

The prospect of more deportations could be economically dangerous as America’s foreign-born workers account for almost 31 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The president said on social media “most” foreign-born U.S. residents “are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels” as he blamed them for crime across the country that is predominantly committed by U.S. citizens.

There are about 50 million foreign-born residents in the U.S., and studies found that immigrants are generally less likely to commit crimes than are people who were born in the country.

The perception that immigration breeds crime “continues to falter under the weight of the evidence,” according to a review of academic literature last year in the Annual Review of Criminology.

“With few exceptions, studies conducted at both the aggregate and individual levels demonstrate that high concentrations of immigrants are not associated with increased levels of crime and delinquency across neighborhoods and cities in the United States," it said.

Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said. Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.

People who knew Lakanwal say he served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before immigrating to the United States. 

Beckstrom praised

Beckstrom enlisted in 2023, the same year she graduated high school, and served with distinction as a military police officer with the 863rd Military Police Company, the West Virginia National Guard said in a statement.

"She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism," the statement said, adding that Beckstrom "volunteered to serve as part of Operation D.C. Safe and Beautiful, helping to ensure the safety and security of our nation's capital."

The president called Beckstrom an "incredible person, outstanding in every single way."