2 National Guard members in critical condition after shooting near White House
Two National Guard soldiers are critically injured after being gunned down in Washington DC, less than two blocks from the White House, in what the city’s mayor called a “targeted shooting”.
Police said a lone suspect opened fire on two National Guard members from West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, before being subdued by other National Guard nearby who had heard the gunfire.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida at the time, said the alleged gunman was an Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021.
He vowed his administration would ensure the suspect “pays the steepest possible price” for “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror”.
Emergency medical responders transported all three victims to a hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, the public information officer for the DC Fire and Emergency Services.
Police tape cordoned off the scene where emergency fire and police vehicles’ lights flashed and helicopter blades thudded overhead. Agents from the U.S. Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby. At least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.
The Joint DC Task Force confirmed they responded to the incident after reports of the shooting. The Metropolitan Police Department said they were responding to a shooting, but didn’t immediately provide more information.
A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser said that local leaders were actively monitoring the situation. Bowser had spent the morning at a Thanksgiving Day event at the Convention Center and then held a press conference to explain why she was not seeking reelection.
President Donald Trump was at his West Palm Beach golf course when the shooting took place.
“The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation. The President has been briefed,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Hundreds of National Guard members from the district and several states have been patrolling the nation’s capital after President Donald Trump in August issued an emergency order in the capital, federalizing the local police force and sending in the guard from eight states and the District of Columbia.
