National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom dies after D.C. shooting
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West Virginia National Guard member Spc. Sarah Beckstrom. Photo: Gen. Steven Nordhaus/National Guard Bureau/Facebook
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, one of two West Virginia National Guard members shot in an ambush-style attack in D.C. this week, has died from her injuries, President Trump said Thursday evening.
The big picture: Trump said during a public call with service members that the 20-year-old "magnificent person" had "just passed away, she's no longer with us" following Wednesday's attack near the White House that prompted his administration to step up its hardline immigration crackdown after the suspect was identified as an Afghan national.
- "She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now," said Trump, who spoke with Beckstrom's parents on Thursday evening, per a White House post to X. "This just happened. She was savagely attacked, she's dead now."
- The other Guardsman shot in the attack near the White House, whom authorities identified as 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, is "fighting for his life," Trump said.
State of play: Beckstrom, of Summersville, West Virginia, died as a result of a gunshot wound sustained in the shooting, the D.C. National Guard said on X Thursday.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said Beckstrom had volunteered to work in D.C. over the holiday period, telling Fox News Thursday: "She volunteered, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families.
- "Yet now the families" of Beckstrom and Wolfe "are in hospital rooms with them while they are fighting for their lives," added Bondi before the Guard member's death.
- Bondi had vowed to seek the death penalty for the suspect if Beckstrom or Wolfe died.
What they're saying: Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in posts to social media that he's "heartbroken" to learn that Beckstrom, "one of our West Virginia National Guard heroes who was viciously attacked while defending our Nation and our freedoms, has died from her wounds."
- He offered his condolences and prayers to Beckstrom's family and friends in posts to social media.
Zoom out: Trump told service members during his call that the "atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country."
- After authorities identified the suspect as a 29-year-old man from Afghanistan, the Trump administration halted all immigration applications from Afghan nationals with immediate effect on Wednesday night.
- On Thursday, officials announced they're reviewing every green card holder from 19 countries of concern.
More from Axios:
- Trump calls National Guard shooting an "act of terror"
- Suspect in National Guard shooting near White House had helped CIA
- Republicans push to "deport them all" after D.C. shooting
- Trump files emergency appeal to keep National Guard in D.C. after shooting
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
