One of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26 is a member of the Air National Guard—one of only a few Air Guard members involved in the law enforcement support mission in the nation’s capital.
On the day before Thanksgiving, a gunman shot Air Guardsman Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe and Army Guardsman Spec. Sarah Beckstrom at close range within a few blocks of the White House. Beckstrom, a 20-year-old military police Soldier, died Nov. 27, according to a Joint Task Force-District of Columbia news release.
Wolfe, a 24-year-old native of Martinsburg, W.V., remains in critical condition, a West Virginia Guard spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine on Dec. 1.
Wolfe joined the Air Guard on Feb. 5, 2019, and serves as “personnel journeyman” with the Force Support Squadron of the 167th Airlift Wing, according to his service record.
Beckstrom, who was from Webster Springs, W.V., joined the Guard on June 26, 2023, and served with the 863rd Military Police Company.
Beckstrom was “brutally targeted, ambushed on the street,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Nov. 28 during a visit to the D.C. Guard Armory. Hegseth added that there are “no words for the sadness we have for her family. We pray for them. We also pray for Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe with the Air National Guard.”
Since Aug. 11, governors from West Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, and South Carolina have sent Guards members to serve alongside the D.C. Guard as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Mission.
According to the most recent available data from Nov. 12, Wolfe was one of roughly 200 Air Guard members serving alongside about 2,300 Army Guardsmen in D.C. The Joint Task Force in charge of the mission told Air & Space Forces Magazine that there are currently 2,232 Guard members serving in D.C. but could not detail the breakdown between Army and Air Guard.
“These two West Virginia heroes were serving our country and protecting our nation’s capital when they were maliciously attacked,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said in a Nov. 28 statement, praising the service of Beckstrom and Wolfe. “Their courage and commitment to duty represent the very best of our state.”
Immediately after the shooting, nearby Guard members and police helped subdue the alleged gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who was arrested as the suspect in the shooting, according to multiple news outlets.
During his visit to the D.C. Armory, Hegseth acknowledged that President Donald Trump has asked him to send an additional 500 Guard members to D.C. to increase security after the shooting.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Dec. 1 that “Governors of several states are planning to send the additional Guardsmen to support Joint Task Force-D.C. Specific troop announcements will come from the individual governor’s offices.”
During his six years of service in the Air Guard, Wolfe has been awarded the Air and Space Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Award, Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to his service record. Wolfe has also received the Air Force Noncommissioned Officer Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon and the Air and Space Training Ribbon.
