A stunning shooting near the White House by an Afghan national has unleashed a firestorm over how refugees are vetted for entry into the United States.

Just 800 yards from the nation’s most iconic building, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan refugee, allegedly shot two National Guardsmen, as questions swirl over the Trump administration’s decision to grant him asylum, as the Daily Mail reports.

His journey began in 2021 when he fled Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover, entering the U.S. under a Biden-era parole program called Operation Allies Welcome.

From Refugee to Suspect: A Troubling Path

Lakanwal settled in Bellingham, Washington, near the Canadian border with his wife and five children, before making a cross-country trek to Washington, D.C., where tragedy unfolded on Wednesday.

Initially paroled into the country in September 2021, he later applied for asylum, a request controversially approved by the Trump Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

Now, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency behind that decision under Secretary Kristi Noem’s oversight, faces sharp criticism for its vetting process.

Shooting Shocks Nation, Soldiers Critically Wounded

On Wednesday, Lakanwal allegedly used a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot two West Virginia National Guard soldiers, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24.

Both were in critical condition after surgery, with Beckstrom later passing away, a grim reminder of the risks our service members face even on home turf.

After the attack, Lakanwal’s fingerprints matched existing records, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s notes reveal he reportedly shouted "allahu akbar" before firing, though the FBI is still digging into any motive or terror links.

Intelligence Ties Deepen the Mystery

Lakanwal’s past adds a troubling layer: he was a commander in Unit 01, an elite Afghan security force, and worked alongside U.S. Special Forces in Kandahar.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed direct ties to the CIA and other U.S. agencies, which begs the question of how such a background didn’t trigger tighter scrutiny.

The oversight is staggering, and it’s clear the system failed to connect critical dots before this devastating incident.

Policy Fallout and Political Finger-Pointing

In the shooting’s aftermath, USCIS suspended all immigration requests for Afghan nationals, launching a review of security and vetting protocols, though many say it’s a reactive move too late to matter.

President Trump, addressing the nation, didn’t hold back, saying, "Nobody knew who was coming in. Nobody knew anything about it," pinning the root issue on lax policies from the previous administration.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem echoed this on X, noting, "The suspect who shot our brave National Guardsmen is an Afghan national who was one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States...under the Biden Administration," a pointed critique of past entry rules that strikes a chord with skeptics of open policies.