Two United States National Guardsmen from West Virginia have been shot near the White House and are in critical condition, several officials have said.
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters that the incident on Wednesday was a “targeted shooting” and that the suspect has been arrested.
“I want to send my thoughts and prayers to the families of the guardsmen and to the guardsmen who are in critical condition in a local hospital,” she said.
There was initial confusion about the condition of the guardsmen after West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey initially wrote on social media that both service members had died. But he later retracted that statement, saying that he had received “conflicting reports” about the situation.
In an earlier post, he pledged to pursue accountability against the attacker. “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country,” he wrote. “West Virginia will never forget their service or their sacrifice, and we will demand full accountability for this horrific act.”
US President Donald Trump quickly responded, pledging on his online platform Truth Social that the perpetrator would pay a “very steep price”.
Trump later shared a video address from his Mar-a-Lago residence, in Florida, where he said that his administration would begin measures to remove foreigners who do “not belong here”, after saying the Department of Homeland Security was “confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan”.
Cc: www.aljazeera.com
