LAST UPDATE | 27 Nov 2025

A MAN SUSPECTED of shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House previously worked with the United States military in Afghanistan, US media reported on Wednesday.

Two members of the National Guard are in critical condition after the ‘targeted’ attack near the White House.

The Afghan suspect worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, in Afghanistan before being evacuated to the United States as a refugee in September 2021, Fox News reported citing the intelligence service’s director John Ratcliffe.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called it “a targeted shooting” by a single gunman.

“That individual has been taken into custody,” she said.

US President Donald Trump said the shooting was an “act of terror”.

“This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror,” Trump said, as he vowed to have his administration “reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan” during his predecessor Joe Biden’s presidency.

Both injured soldiers – part of a militarised anti-crime deployment around the United States ordered by Trump – were in “critical condition,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.

Earlier, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey mistakenly said the soldiers, both deployed to the capital from his state, had died.

The incident has fuelled controversy over Trump’s nationwide crime crackdown.

It was the most serious incident involving the National Guard since Trump began ordering troops onto the streets of several Democratic-run cities shortly after starting his second term this January.

The Republican, who was at his Florida golf club, described the shooter as an “animal.”

“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” he posted on Truth Social.

ATF and Secret Service Police officers are seen after the two National Guard soldiers were shot. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Soon after the shootings, security agents flooded the area around the Farragut West metro station, two blocks from the White House. Officers carrying rifles stood guard behind yellow tape at the perimeter of the area and a helicopter circled over the busy downtown.

The Irish Embassy, which is located close to the White House, has closed its doors  to visitors.

The United States will deploy 500 additional troops to the capital Washington in the wake of the shooting, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, DC safe and beautiful,” said Hegseth, who announced the planned troop increase – which will bring the number of National Guard in the US capital to more than 2,500 – during a visit to the Dominican Republic.

Trump made Washington a showcase for his decision to order National Guard soldiers, in camouflage and occasionally carrying rifles, to patrol streets of cities run by Democratic mayors, also including Los Angeles and Memphis.

The policy has prompted bitter complaint from local officials who accuse Trump of stoking tensions, while the deployments are the subject of numerous court challenges.

Last Thursday a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital is unlawful.

With additional reporting from AFP