Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard has died after D.C. shooting, governor says

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Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard has died after D.C. shooting, governor says

By Brad McElhinny
November 27, 2025 - 7:07 pm

West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, has died after being shot while on duty in Washington, D.C., Gov. Patrick Morrisey said. ... “This is not the result we hoped for, but it is the result we all feared,” Morrisey said in a statement issued by the Governor’s Office.

Beckstrom is from Summersville and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard. She entered service on June 26, 2023. ... “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,” Morrisey said.

“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.”

She and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot the day before Thanksgiving at the corner of 17th and I Streets NW. D.C. police said they had one suspect in custody, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal. ... Authorities have said the suspect in the shooting came around a corner, raised his gun and fired at Guardsmen who were gathered at the location near a Metro stop.

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