National Guard Shooting in D.C.: Latest Updates

The day before Thanksgiving, downtown Washington, D.C. was thrown into chaos when two members of the West Virginia National Guard were gunned down just blocks from the White House. The National Guard shooting unfolded in broad daylight near Farragut Square, a busy commercial area and transit hub, leading to a massive law enforcement and emergency response and a fast-moving investigation that now reaches from D.C. streets to national immigration, security, and deployment policy. Reuters+2Federal News Network+2

Authorities say the attack appears to have been a targeted ambush. The two Guard members remain in critical condition, and a single suspect is in custody after being wounded at the scene. Federal investigators are probing possible terrorism links, while the White House has already moved to tighten immigration rules for Afghan nationals, turning the National Guard shooting into an instant flashpoint in a long-running political fight. ABC News+2Wikipedia+2

Incident Overview — National Guard shooting

According to D.C. police and federal officials, the National Guard shooting took place shortly after 2:15 p.m. on November 26, 2025, near the intersection of 17th and I Streets NW, just north of the White House and adjacent to Farragut Square Park. The two Guard members were on foot patrol as part of a larger deployment of West Virginia National Guard troops to the capital, ordered earlier this year to bolster federal security operations. Federal News Network+2Wikipedia+2

Investigators say a lone gunman rounded a corner and opened fire at close range. Officials have described the attack as ambush-style and “targeted,” with roughly 10 to 15 shots fired before other Guard members and police moved in. Both soldiers were gravely wounded and collapsed on the sidewalk, where bystanders and fellow troops began CPR and first aid before paramedics arrived. Federal News Network+2NBC4 Washington+2

The shooting happened on one of the busiest travel days of the year. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly paused flights into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to clear airspace for aircraft supporting the response, adding to the sense of a capital city on edge. Normal flight operations resumed later in the afternoon. Reuters

Local and federal officials stressed that there is no indication of additional attackers. The current working theory is that the National Guard shooting was carried out by a single suspect who specifically targeted uniformed troops on patrol in the downtown corridor. Reuters+2NBC4 Washington+2

Law Enforcement And National Guard Response

Immediate Emergency Response

Within minutes of the first 911 calls, Metropolitan Police Department officers, Secret Service units, and federal tactical teams converged on the area around Farragut Square. Witness video shows streets filled with emergency vehicles, officers rushing to secure the scene, and medics working frantically over the injured soldiers. NBC4 Washington+1

Metropolitan Police officials say responding officers and nearby Guard members quickly confronted the suspect and exchanged gunfire. The alleged shooter was struck multiple times and taken into custody with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Authorities believe there was no risk of a wider coordinated attack linked to the National Guard shooting, but they flooded the surrounding blocks to make certain there were no additional threats. Federal News Network+2CBS News+2

Ongoing Investigation And Federal Involvement

The FBI has taken a leading role alongside D.C. police, opening an investigation that federal officials say may treat the incident as a potential act of terrorism, depending on what they uncover about the suspect’s motives and connections. Wikipedia+2CBS News+2

Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from businesses, transit cameras, and federal facilities to reconstruct the shooter’s movements before and after the attack. They are also combing through digital records, travel history, and communications to determine whether anyone else helped plan or encourage the National Guard shooting or whether it was the isolated action of a single radicalized individual. Officials have emphasized that the suspect is not cooperating with interrogators, which is slowing the search for a clear motive. CBS News+1

Who Was Involved And What We Know So Far

The Guard Members

Authorities have confirmed that both victims are members of the West Virginia National Guard, deployed to Washington as part of a broader domestic security mission that put roughly 2,200 Guard troops on the streets of the capital. Their names have not been widely released pending notification of all relatives, but state and federal officials say both are in critical condition at separate hospitals. Federal News Network+2ABC News+2

West Virginia’s governor initially stated that the soldiers had died, only to later walk back that announcement, citing conflicting hospital reports. That reversal has fueled confusion and anger among Guard families and raised questions about how quickly political leaders rushed to speak before facts were fully confirmed. Wikipedia+1

The Suspect And The Immigration Backdrop

Law enforcement sources have identified the alleged gunman as a 29-year-old Afghan national who came to the United States in 2021 under an evacuation program following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, later applying for and receiving asylum. He had been living in Washington state and appears to have traveled to D.C. before the attack. Officials say he used a handgun in the National Guard shooting and was struck multiple times when Guard members returned fire. CBS News+3The Guardian+3AP News+3

Early reporting indicates he once worked with U.S. government entities in Afghanistan, which has sharpened criticism from those who argue that vetting of wartime partners and evacuees was inadequate. At the same time, advocates point out that tens of thousands of Afghans who were brought to the U.S. under similar programs have committed no crimes and have been screened repeatedly, warning against using one attack to smear an entire community. Fox News+2AP News+2

Because the suspect is refusing to answer investigators’ questions, authorities are leaning heavily on digital forensics and interviews with acquaintances to determine whether the National Guard shooting was driven by ideology, personal grievance, mental health issues, or some combination of factors. CBS News+1

Political Fallout And Public Reaction

White House And Federal Response

President Donald Trump, speaking from Florida, quickly condemned the attack, calling the shooter an “animal” and promising a “very steep price.” He framed the National Guard shooting as proof that immigration policies for Afghan evacuees under the previous administration were dangerously lax and announced a sweeping review of all Afghan nationals admitted during that period. Fox News+2AP News+2

Within hours, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suspended processing of immigration applications for Afghan nationals pending a new vetting review, effectively freezing thousands of cases in legal limbo. Trump also requested the deployment of an additional 500 National Guard troops to the capital on top of the forces already on the streets, a move defense officials say is meant to reassure the public but that critics view as more political theater than practical security. U.S. Department of War+2WGLT+2

Top law enforcement officials, including the FBI director and the attorney general, issued statements offering prayers for the injured soldiers and pledging a full investigation. Congressional leaders from both parties released messages of sympathy to the West Virginia Guard and their families, even as partisan lines hardened over immigration and deployment policy. Wikipedia+1

Debates Over Immigration, Security, And Deployment

The National Guard shooting has instantly become ammunition in the broader war over U.S. immigration policy. Hard-line voices on the right argue that the attack validates their claims that Afghan evacuees and other migrants pose an unacceptable security risk, and they are using the incident to press for aggressive deportations and long-term entry bans. AP News+1

Immigrant and refugee advocates respond that singling out an entire population for punishment based on one attacker undermines both U.S. moral obligations and basic rule-of-law principles. They warn that blanket suspensions of Afghan cases will strand interpreters, former security partners, and families who risked their lives to assist U.S. forces, many of whom still face threats from the Taliban and other groups. AP News+1

There is also renewed scrutiny of the ongoing deployment of National Guard troops inside U.S. cities. Civil liberties groups and some local officials had already questioned why thousands of Guard members remained on patrol in downtown Washington months after the latest emergency surge. The National Guard shooting raises sharp questions about whether putting soldiers into a highly visible, heavily politicized domestic role increases their vulnerability without clearly improving public safety. Wikipedia+1

What This Means For Future National Guard Deployments

In the short term, the most direct outcome of the National Guard shooting is likely more troops on the ground, not fewer. The president’s call for hundreds of additional Guard members to deploy to D.C. suggests that federal leaders are doubling down on visible shows of force rather than reconsidering the mission. U.S. Department of War+2WGLT+2

Behind the scenes, though, military planners and legal advisers will be reassessing the rules of engagement, protective gear, and patrol patterns for Guard units operating in dense urban environments. The attack exposed the reality that soldiers walking routine beats in a city filled with political tension are now obvious symbolic targets, especially when their presence is tied to controversial federal crackdowns. That means the Pentagon and National Guard Bureau will have to decide whether to harden posture, pull back from the most exposed locations, or rethink the mission altogether.

City leaders and community groups, meanwhile, are likely to demand a voice in those decisions. For residents who were already uneasy seeing camouflage uniforms on commuter routes, the National Guard shooting is a nightmare scenario: troops on their streets, shot in an attack that then becomes a pretext for more troops and more sweeping security measures.

Bottom Line

The National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C. is still under investigation, and key questions about motive, planning, and failures in intelligence or screening remain unanswered. What is already clear is that the incident has moved instantly from a local tragedy to a national political pivot point, touching immigration policy, domestic deployment strategy, and public trust in the government’s response to risk.

Two West Virginia soldiers are fighting for their lives in D.C. hospitals. A wounded suspect is in custody and refusing to talk. Federal agencies are racing to reconstruct what happened in the shadow of the White House. And as the facts slowly emerge, the decisions made in the next few days about immigration rules and National Guard deployments will shape far more than the aftermath of a single attack.

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National Guard Shooting in D.C.: What We Know So Far About the Targeted Attack Near the White House