A Fox News journalist reported late Wednesday that the Afghan-born man who shot two National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., entered the United States under former President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The report, from the network’s Bill Melugin, ties the alleged ambush attacker to a program many criticized for its lax, sometimes nonexistent, vetting processes.
NBC News reported that the shooting was being investigated by the FBI as a potential terrorist act. The two members of the West Virginia National Guard were still in critical condition as of Wednesday evening.
The suspect, NBC News confirmed, was 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, whose last address was in Bellingham, Washington.
He was also shot in the ambush and is being treated at a hospital, although his condition was unknown.
The shooting happened as the National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols” near 17th and High streets in the District, according to Executive Assistant Police Chief Jeffery Carroll.
“The suspect came around the corner, he immediately started firing a firearm at the two National Guard members,” Carroll said.
Melugin, meanwhile, reported that “multiple federal law enforcement sources” told him the suspect was “an Afghan national who entered the U.S. on 9/8/2021 as part of the Biden admin’s Operation Allies Welcome in the aftermath of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
“I’m told his permission to be in the U.S. expired in September of this year, and he is now in the country illegally,” he said in a post on X just before 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
BREAKING: Per multiple federal law enforcement sources, the suspect in custody for the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in DC is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. on 9/8/2021 as part of the Biden admin’s Operation Allies Welcome in the aftermath of the US withdrawal…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) November 27, 2025
Even as the Afghan withdrawal was happening in August and September of 2021, there were concerns about the refugee evacuation process put in place by the Biden administration.
In February of 2022, the Pentagon’s inspector general noted that they had identified at least 50 “potentially significant security concerns” among those who were evacuated to the United States, including those with suspected terror ties.
“Significant security concerns include individuals whose latent fingerprints have been found on improvised explosive devices and known or suspected terrorists,” the report read, also noting that 28 of them couldn’t be located.
“Not being able to locate Afghan evacuees with derogatory information quickly and accurately could pose a security risk to the United States,” the report said.
“In addition, the U.S. Government could mistakenly grant ineligible Afghan evacuees with derogatory information” immigration parole, it continued.
It is unclear from early reports whether or not red flags had been raised in the past regarding Rahmanullah Lakanwal, however.
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