Federal charges were brought Tuesday against the suspect in the killing of a member of the National Guard in Washington last month, a move that will permit determination of whether to pursue the death penalty, the District’s chief federal prosecutor said.
Transferring the case from the D.C. Superior Court to the U.S. District Court for D.C. “ensures that we can undertake the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate here,” said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District.
The November shooting killed Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and seriously injured Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.
The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who resided in Bellingham, Washington, was charged Tuesday in a complaint in U.S. District Court with two federal offenses, Pirro said.
She said the new federal charges against Lakanwal are transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit an offense, punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, and transporting a stolen firearm in interstate commerce.
Backstrom’s parents “are now forced to endure the holiday season without their daughter,” Pirro said. “Andrew Wolfe, by the grace of God, survived but has a long road ahead in his recovery.”
Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of the D.C. Code, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to court documents, Lakanwal allegedly drove his Toyota Prius from Bellingham to D.C. while in possession of a stolen firearm.
On Nov. 26 at 2:13 p.m., Lakanwal opened fire without provocation at 17th and I Streets, NW, near the Farragut West Metro Station, shooting Beckstrom and Wolfe in the head, Pirro said.
Two majors in the National Guard who were nearby subdued the suspect, according to Pirro.
At the scene, investigators recovered a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023, Pirro said.
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