Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guardsmen shot by a crazed gunman, dies

Sarah Beckstrom, one of the West Virginia National Guard members shot in a cowardly ambush by an Afghan refugee, has died.

President Trump announced the passing of the 20-year-old during a Thanksgiving evening address.

“She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now,” Trump said.

Beckstrom had been listed in critical condition after being shot in the chest and the head.

She was rushed into emergency surgery following the shocking attack, but her prognosis remained bleak.

Her father was certain Beckstrom would succumb to her wounds when reached by The New York Times on Thanksgiving Day.

“I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom said.

“She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”

Authorities are expected to pursue first-degree murder charges, among a litany of others, against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who they say sprang on Beckstrom and her fellow soldiers near the Farragut West Metro Station in Northwest DC Wednesday.

Andrew Wolfe, 24, was also shot in the attack. Like Beckstrom, Wolfe was rushed into emergency surgery and is still hospitalized.

The pair had been sworn in for their duties just 24 hours earlier, according to US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

According to US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Beckstrom had offered herself up to work the holiday shifts so that others could spend Thanksgiving at home.

“She volunteered to be there on Thanksgiving — working today — she volunteered, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families,” Bondi said Thursday morning.

“Yet now, their families are in hospital rooms with them while they are fighting for their lives.”

Lakanwal, 29, allegedly ambushed the two National Guard members near the White House, lying in wait before opening fire with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver.

He was shot by return fire from other guard members.

His motive is not yet clear, but authorities are probing it as a targeted terrorist attack.

According to Pirro, Lakanwal drove across the country to carry out horror, leaving his home in Bellingham, Washington, which he shares with his wife and five children.

Lakanwal was a member of the Afghan Army stationed in Kandahar where he supported US Special Forces in the region, a relative told NBC News.

He came to the US during the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23 of this year — and had no known criminal history, a Trump admin official told Reuters.