The National Guard member who was ambushed while patrolling near the White House on Thanksgiving eve is now breathing on his own and can stand with assistance, his neurosurgeon said Friday.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was hospitalized Nov. 26 after a gunman opened fire on him and his colleague, Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who died of her injuries the following day. The attack left Wolfe with a “critical” gunshot wound to his head, and he was airlifted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Jeffrey Mai said in a statement.
Mai credited quick-acting first responders and the actions of trauma and neurosurgery teams for saving Wolfe’s life by controlling the serviceman’s bleeding and pressure on his brain. Mai called Wolfe’s recent recovery developments “important milestones that reflect his strength and determination.”
“Staff Sgt. Wolfe has made extraordinary progress,” the doctor said. “Based on these improvements, he is now ready to transition from acute care to inpatient rehabilitation as the next step in his recovery journey.”
Wolfe’s family, including his father, Jason, and mother, Melody, have chosen not to disclose the location of his rehabilitation, Mai added.
Wolfe, who joined the West Virginia National Guard in 2019, and Beckstrom were among more than 2,000 Guard members deployed to D.C. after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “crime emergency” in the city in August. Following the attack, Trump ordered an additional 500 troops to the District.
The suspect in the attack, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who served in the CIA’s “Zero Units” that seized or killed suspected terrorists, has been charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors have not given a motive for the shooting. Charging documentssay Lakanwal, who settled in Washington state after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, drove across the country to carry out the attack and allegedly shouted “Allahu akbar!” as he shot Beckstrom and Wolfe in their heads with a .357-caliber revolver outside the Farragut West Metro station. The phrase is Arabic for “God is great.” A Washington Post investigation found that Lakanwal slipped deeper into isolation as he struggled to adaptwith his wife and five children in the United States.
Lakanwal, who was also shot during the attack, pleaded not guilty through an attorney at the hearing Dec. 2. He spoke through an interpreter to give brief responses and appeared remotely by video from a hospital bed.
There had been earlier signs that Wolfe’s recovery was trending positively. On Dec. 5, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) shared publicly that Wolfe’s “parents report that his head wound is slowly healing and that he’s beginning to ‘look more like himself.’”
Jordan Butler, a local pastor and friend of the Wolfe family, co-led a vigil last week at the high school Wolfe attended in Inwood, a tight-knit West Virginia community where vigil attendees prayed and lit candles for Wolfe.
“It’s amazing watching what’s happening,” Butler told The Post on Wednesday. “It’s almost miraculous.”
On Friday, Wolfe’s parents said in a statement released by MedStar that they hope their son will be able to return to work in the West Virginia National Guard “and his new mission of being a light into this world.”
“Please continue to lift Andy up in prayer as he begins a long and tough rehabilitation,” Jason and Melody Wolfe said. “We know he will continue to improve at a rapid pace.”
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