West Virginia National Guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom has died from her injuries after she and another soldier were shot Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced.
She was 20. Her father, Gary Beckstrom, previously said she wasn’t expected to recover and had a mortal injury.
“I must unfortunately tell you that just seconds before I went on right now, I heard that Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023 outstanding in every way. She’s just passed away,” Trump said Thursday evening.
“She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened. She was savagely attacked. She’s dead, not with us. Incredible person, outstanding in every single way, in every department, that’s horrible,” he added.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed that she had died. “Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation. She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Today, we honor her bravery and her sacrifice as we mourn the loss of a young woman who gave everything she had in defense of others. We will forever hold her family, her friends, and her fellow Guardsmen in our prayers as they grieve what no family should ever have to bear,” he added.
The New York Times spoke with her father, Gary, and a former boyfriend, Adam Carr.
“I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom told the outlet earlier. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”
Carr said Beckstrom was “caring and tenderhearted.” He also said she enjoyed nature, road trips and spending time with her family. “As long as she was with people who cared about her, she was having a good time,” he said.
He added that she wasn’t excited to go to the nation’s capital initially because of people who did not want the National Guard there. She then grew fond of spending time in D.C., wandering museums and memorials.
The other soldier, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life.
The pair were allegedly ambushed with a revolver by Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal near the Farragut West metro station before he was subdued.
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With Beckstrom’s death, the Department of Justice is expected to pursue first-degree murder charges against Lakanwal, among other charges. In a post on X, Attorney General Pamela Bondi suggested she will seek the death penalty.
“Devastated,” Bondi posted. “Please pray for Sarah’s family. America will never forget her courage. There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew. Thank you to President Trump — the death penalty is back.”
Devastated. Please pray for Sarah’s family. America will never forget her courage.
There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah. Continue to pray for Andrew.
Thank you to President Trump — the death penalty is back. https://t.co/OpQIrKmacI
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) November 28, 2025
Beckstrom was deployed to D.C. in August as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime in the city. She appears to be one of the first National Guard soldiers who have been mortally wounded in the city.
