One of the two National Guard members who was shot near the White House has died, US President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Trump praised Specialist Sarah B., 20, as a "highly respected, young, magnificent person."

The other Guard member, Staff Sergeant Andrew W., 24, was "fighting for his life. He's in very bad shape," Trump said as he addressed the US troops to mark the Thanksgiving holiday.

The United States is treating the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House as a terrorism investigation, FBI director Kash Patel said earlier on Thursday.

Patel added that the suspected shooter, an Afghan national, had previously worked in Afghanistan alongside US forces and intelligence.

What's the latest on the Washington shootings?

Patel told reporters there was an "ongoing investigation of terrorism."

"We are fully investigating that aspect of his background as well to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America, that is what a broad-based international terrorism investigation looks like," he said.

At the same briefing, Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, warned that the charges could be upgraded depending on the victims' condition.

"We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge," she said.

The FBI continues to investigate any possible overseas connections and domestic associates while both victims remain in critical care.

What do we know about the suspect?

Pirro said the suspect, Rahmanullah L., had driven across the country to the US capital to carry out what she described as an "ambush-style" attack using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. He currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said "it's too soon to say" what the suspect’s motives were.

The 29-year-old suspect has been living in the US since entering the country in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Joe Biden administration initiative that has relocated tens of thousands of Afghans since the US withdrawal.

Officials said the program brought about 76,000 evacuees to the US, many of them former interpreters and local staff who worked alongside US troops and diplomats.

The effort has faced scrutiny from Trump and his allies, as well as from congressional Republicans and several watchdogs, over gaps in the vetting process and the pace of admissions. Meanwhile, advocates have argued the program provided a critical pathway for people threatened by Taliban reprisals.

The suspect has been living in Bellingham, Washington state, roughly 80 miles (about 120 kilometers) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, according to former landlord Kristina Widman.

Before arriving in the US in 2021, he worked with the US government — including the CIA — "as a member of a partner force in Kandahar," according to officials.

A resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as the suspect's cousin said he was originally from the province. The suspect and the cousin's brother had worked in a special type of Afghan Army unit known as Zero Units — paramilitary units manned by Afghans but backed by the CIA — in the southern province of Kandahar. 

The units would also serve in front-line fighting with CIA paramilitary officers. 

Tougher scrutiny on migrants from Afghanistan after shooting

Trump said after the arrest of the suspect that the US would re-examine "every single alien" who entered the country from Afghanistan under Biden. 

Shortly afterward, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on X that it was indefinitely stopping the processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals, effective immediately.

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko, Karl Sexton