The FBI searched multiple properties in Washington state and San Diego on Thursday in what officials said was a terrorism probe into an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard members, who remained in critical condition.
Investigators seized numerous electronic devices from the suspect's house in Washington state, including cellphones, laptops, and iPads, and interviewed the suspect's relatives, according to FBI Director Kash Patel who spoke at a news conference Thanksgiving morning in Washington, D.C
Patel said interviews were taking place in San Diego, but declined to provide further details.
See photo of suspect BELOW.
The two wounded Guard members were identified as Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Authorities say the suspect ambushed the Guard members while they were patrolling near the White House. Armed with a powerful revolver, a .357 Magnum, he shot one member who fell and then shot aghe suspect has been identified by authorities as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who lived in Washington state with his wife and five children.
He drove his vehicle cross-country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to the nation's capita according to officials.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Lakanwal had worked with CIA-backed local units in Afghanistan. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war and feared reprisals from Taliban forces who seized control after the U.S. withdrawal there.
(Photo courtesy Fox News)
Photo: Getty Images