WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., issued a 17-count superseding indictment against Rahmanullah Lakanwal on Tuesday. The new indictment includes a charge of first-degree armed premeditated murder of a National Guard member, and prosecutors stated they will seek the death penalty in the case.

Mr. Lakanwal's attorney entered a not guilty plea on his client's behalf during an arraignment on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Afghan national originally pleaded not guilty in January to nine charges stemming from a November 2025 shooting. The initial charges of murder, assault, and gun crimes did not make Mr. Lakanwal eligible for the death penalty, but the new charges do.

Prosecutors allege Mr. Lakanwal drove from Bellingham, Washington, to Washington, D.C., armed with a stolen Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum-caliber revolver. He is accused of ambushing two Guard members outside a subway station three blocks from the White House on November 26, 2025, which was Thanksgiving Day. Prosecutors allege Mr. Lakanwal shot Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in the head during the incident.

Spc. Beckstrom, 20, died from gunshot wounds on Thanksgiving, and Staff Sgt. Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded. Both were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of a federal law-enforcement surge that began in August in Washington, D.C., at the direction of President Donald Trump. Spc. Beckstrom had volunteered for the Thanksgiving shift so guardsmen with children could spend the holiday with their families.

According to a police report, another Guard member heard gunshots and observed the two victims fall to the ground. Two nearby National Guardsmen shot and stabbed Mr. Lakanwal during the confrontation. The charges in the new indictment also include attempted murder of three others, assault with intent to kill, transportation of a firearm across state lines to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Mr. Lakanwal appeared in federal court in a wheelchair and an orange jumpsuit during the arraignment, but he did not speak. In 2021, he entered the United States through a Biden administration program that resettled Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Mr. Lakanwal previously worked with the American government and the CIA in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Mr. Lakanwal is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 16, though a trial date has not yet been set.

No independent assessment of Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s claims was available.