2 US National Guard members in 'critical condition' after Washington, D.C. shooting: Reports
Iran Press TV
Thursday, 27 November 2025 3:29 AM
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard have been shot in Washington, D.C. in what authorities described as a street ambush near the city's downtown government district.
The incident took place outside the Farragut Metro Station, just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, various American media outlets reported.
A law enforcement official said investigators counted 10 to 15 shots fired within seconds.
Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Jeff Carroll said video reviewed from multiple angles showed a single gunman stepping from concealment around a street corner, raising a handgun, and opening fire on the troops.
"This was a targeted confrontation, not crossfire," said FBI Director Kash Patel at an evening briefing. "Our priority is establishing the facts and supporting the injured. Initial reports suggesting fatalities were incorrect."
The Guard members were deputized for duty, but did not have arrest powers, officials said. One of the wounded personnel was evacuated by medical helicopter, while the suspect, wounded by return fire from a third Guard member, was transported by ambulance before being formally taken into custody.
Some law enforcement sources identified the suspect as a 29-year-old Afghan national, who had entered the United States in 2021 following the United States messy withdrawal from Afghanistan that was ensued by the Taliban's reassuming power.
Investigators currently believe he acted alone, Patel added.
State governor Patrick Morrisey deployed hundreds of personnel to the capital in August 2025 to deter, what he called, street crime.
Other Guard units have since been assigned to similar visibility-based patrol duties in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland.
Only one week earlier, US federal judge Jia Cobb had ruled that elements of the capital deployment were likely unlawful, pausing enforcement of her decision for 21 days pending appeal.
In an evening address, Trump announced that an additional 500 Guard troops would be mobilized at the request of the War Department to "reinforce" capital security in the coming days.
Observers commenting on the incident warned that it could be used by American officials to drastically rekindle Washington's so-called "war on terror" fiery rhetoric, which has been repeatedly used by the White House to justify radical foreign meddling and deployment as well as mass deportations.
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