Slain National Guard Member Remembered for Service — and Hope for a Different Future

By reworking reporting from The Washington Post, here is a human-toned narrative of the events surrounding the death of Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard soldier, and the broader fallout.

– A young guard hopeful with big plans
Sarah Beckstrom grew up in rural West Virginia. After high school, she enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard — not as a career soldier but as a stepping stone toward college. Her ambition was to study criminal justice, driven by a long-standing interest in the workings of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Although initially anxious about being posted to Washington, D.C., she grew to embrace city life and the Guard’s mission. She believed strongly in efforts to reduce crime and volunteered for duty there.

Former classmates, coworkers, teachers — everyone who knew her — described her as warm, determined, and eager to serve. In high school she played softball, studied health sciences, participated in JROTC — and carried a sense of responsibility and ambition.

– The ambush at Farragut West
On November 26, 2025, Beckstrom and her colleague Andrew Wolfe, 24, also of the West Virginia Guard, were on patrol near Farragut West Metro Station, just blocks from the White House. They had recently been deputized to carry out patrol duties under orders deployed earlier this year.

At roughly 2:15 p.m., a lone assailant — identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national — opened fire with a .357-caliber revolver. Both Guard members were seriously wounded. Beckstrom ultimately died in hospital Thursday night, with her parents at her side; Wolfe remains in critical condition.

Authorities described the attack as a “brazen and targeted” ambush. The suspect was subdued by fellow Guard members and taken into custody.

– Mourning, honor, and questions
The death shook both her small hometown and her D.C. post. In West Virginia, vigils are being held in her memory — at her former high school, at local community centers, and by neighbors who knew her as a thoughtful and hardworking young woman.

Officials, including West Virginia’s governor and higher-ups in the Guard, praised Beckstrom and Wolfe for volunteering, stepping up despite the dangers, and putting themselves on the line for a mission they believed in.

But the shooting has reopened difficult debates. The suspect, Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021 under a resettlement program and reportedly had previously served in a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary “Zero Unit.”

In response, federal immigration processing for Afghan nationals has been suspended, and officials have announced a sweeping review of green-card statuses for immigrants from “countries of concern.”

Many who knew Beckstrom are left wondering: why did this happen? Was she — a young woman doing her duty — put in harm’s way because of larger policy failures? Some say the deployment of the National Guard, at best controversial in parts of D.C., should not have placed novices in such vulnerable positions.

– A life lost, a country shaken
Sarah Beckstrom died with hopes, ambitions, and a clear idea of where she wanted to go — not just a career, but a purpose. She once told a friend she saw the Guard as “a way to help people,” to help restore safety where she believed it was badly needed.