In a shocking daylight attack that unsettled Washington DC, two National Guard members were shot and left in critical condition just a few blocks from the White House on Wednesday by an Afghan national who had earlier worked with the US military and the CIA in Afghanistan.

The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was injured during a gunfight with responding officers and is now in custody while federal investigators look into what President Donald Trump has called an "act of terror" carried out by an “animal.”

The attack came at a time when security concerns after the election have sparked a heated political fight over US immigration policies. Scrapping all processing for Afghan refugees and asylum seekers has brought new focus on the efforts of American veterans who have been helping former allies find safety after serving with them in America’s longest war.

Hours after the shooting, the Trump administration said it had paused all immigration applications from Afghanistan until security checks and vetting procedures were reviewed again. “We must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country. If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” President Trump said after the attack.

The shooting happened around 2 pm on Pennsylvania Avenue NW near the Farragut West metro station, which is a busy stretch filled with federal buildings, offices and places visited by tourists. Witnesses said they saw a man dressed in dark clothes step out of a parked sedan and fire a semi-automatic handgun at the two uniformed Guardsmen who were walking on patrol as part of a Trump-ordered deployment meant to strengthen security in DC.

The victims, identified as Staff Sgt Elijah Ramirez, 32, and Sgt Marcus Hale, 28, were hit several times in the torso and legs. They were taken to George Washington University Hospital, a short distance away, where doctors carried out emergency procedures to stop the bleeding. By Thursday morning, both remained in critical but stable condition.

Ramirez, who is a father of three and an Iraq War veteran and Hale, who is a recent enlistee who has served in Europe, were part of a 500-member National Guard group that was sent to the District in September 2025 under an executive order to manage unrest after the November election. After the attack, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sent another 500-member Guard team to the capital.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation with support from the Department of Homeland Security, has described the shooting as a "targeted assault" but has not yet confirmed a motive. It first avoided calling it a terrorist attack while investigations continued, but by night, President Trump called it an “act of terror.”

Early findings from ballistics show that Lakanwal used a 9mm Glock pistol, which he bought legally in Virginia last month, and officers also found a document in his sedan written like a manifesto criticising "American imperialism" and US involvement in Afghanistan, according to local news reports.

As the sun came up over the taped off crime scene on Thanksgiving Thursday, the yellow police tape moved in the cold wind and served as a stark reminder of the painful aftermath of America’s long war in Afghanistan, now seen on a sidewalk in Washington, DC.