Justice Department plans to seek death penalty for man accused of shooting National Guard members
By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — The Justice Department said it will seek the death penalty for the man accused of shooting two National Guard members, and killing one of them, near the White House in November.
The man, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, pleaded not guilty to the nine charges against him — including first-degree murder — during his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday.
When Judge Amit Mehta pressed prosecutors on whether they would be pursuing additional charges that would allow them to seek the death penalty for Lakanwal, prosecutors waffled, eventually telling the judge they are pursuing “death-eligible charges.”
According to court documents, Lakanwal traveled from Washington state to the capital city in late November before he ambushed the two officers, shooting them both in the head with a snub-nosed revolver.
Another National Guard member, having heard the shots, pulled out his service weapon and shot Lakanwal, who fell to the ground and was quickly detained, court records say.
Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members who was shot in the back of the head, was pronounced dead the next day. The other member, Andrew Wolfe, is still in recovery.
Lakanwal worked with the CIA for over a decade in Afghanistan before the US military withdrew from the country. He came to the US in 2021.
According to court records, Lakanwal had been given the pistol, which prosecutors say was stolen, by an unnamed person after Lakanwal said he needed a firearm to protect himself during his job driving for Uber and Lyft.
Investigators say that, at the time, Lakanwal had been banned by Uber and had not been employed for around two months before the shooting.
Initially, he wanted a firearm that could hold as much as a 30-round magazine, court documents say, and when given the revolver, asked “only five rounds?”
Prosecutors also allege that on the same day that he was given the stolen firearm, Lakanwal went to a sporting goods store and purchased a box of bullets. Two hours later he allegedly searched “Washington, DC” in Google maps and, the next day, searched for the address of the White House.
Ten days later he allegedly shot the two National Guards members two blocks from the White House.
His next hearing in the case is scheduled for early May.
The-CNN-Wire
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