A man facing charges in the shooting deaths of a National Guard soldier near the White House has been rushed to a hospital after refusing to eat while awaiting trial, federal prosecutors disclosed in a court filing Thursday.
Justice Department prosecutors said they learned Thursday morning that Rahmanullah Lakanwal had been transported to a hospital overnight to receive care for a condition that could threaten his life. The U.S. Marshals Service had already warned prosecutors last month that Lakanwal faced serious health risks — including the possibility of death — because he had gone without adequate food for an extended period of time.
The court filing did not explain the specific reasons behind Lakanwal’s refusal to eat. However, prosecutors pointed out that courts have previously upheld the authority of prison officials to force-feed inmates who are on hunger strikes in order to keep them alive.
The federal judge overseeing the case called an emergency hearing to address the defendant’s medical situation while he remains in federal custody. At the close of that hearing, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta directed prosecutors to draft a proposed court order that would allow them to obtain Lakanwal’s recent medical records.
Defense attorney Shelli Peterson and a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office both declined to speak with reporters following the hearing.
Lakanwal, a citizen of Afghanistan, has entered a not guilty plea to charges that include first-degree murder in connection with a November 2025 shooting that claimed the life of West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, who was 20 years old, and left Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, critically injured.
Both Beckstrom and Wolfe had been deployed from West Virginia to Washington, D.C., as part of an expanded federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital ordered by President Donald Trump that began last summer.
Lakanwal is accused of traveling from Bellingham, Washington, to the nation’s capital while carrying a stolen firearm, then ambushing the two Guard members outside a subway station just three blocks from the White House. According to a police report, another National Guard member witnessed the attack — watching Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground as Lakanwal fired his weapon and shouted, “Allahu Akbar!”
Lakanwal himself was shot during the confrontation. He appeared at his first court hearing in December via video from a hospital bed. No trial date has been set in the case.
