What We Know About the Two National Guard Members Shot in D.C.
West Virginia towns are holding prayer vigils and hanging blue ribbons for two wounded troop members. ‘We’re really all in shock.’.
Families, friends and neighbors in West Virginia are rallying around two members of their state’s National Guard, who were shot while working in Washington, D.C., over Thanksgiving. They were there as part of President Trump’s crackdown on crime.
Who were the two troop members shot?
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom is assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard, according to the Defense Department. She is 20 years old and from Summersville, a small community in the mountains of West Virginia. She entered service in 2023, and had been on task-force orders in the district since the beginning of the mission in August of this year, officials said.
Social-media posts show her graduating from high school with an “honors” sash and hosting a housewarming party last year. Others show her family proudly displaying photos of her military service.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, age 24, is assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard, according to officials.
Wolfe is from the lower Shenandoah Valley, in Martinsburg, W.Va. The son of a deputy sheriff, he played varsity baseball in high school. “He was always cracking jokes especially when we were playing sports—he’s a real jokester,” recalled his high school teammate Nick Reeves.
Friends also say Wolfe showed an early sense of purpose. He joined the military in 2019, during his senior year of high school. He “was excited for it,” said Austin Breeden, another friend. “He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
Reeves said when Wolfe came home from Guard duty, he would socialize with friends and play in a cornhole league. The last time Reeves talked to Wolfe’s father, it seemed “Andrew was loving” being in the Guard, Reeves said.
Where were the Guards members at the time of the attack?
The shooting took place around 2:15 p.m., Wednesday, near the Farragut West metro station in D.C. A lone gunman opened fire “without provocation, ambush-style,” the district’s U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said during a briefing Thursday.
One guardsman went down, and then the shooter leaned over and struck the guardsman again, Pirro said. Another guardsman was then shot several times, she said.
What is the condition of the victims?
Beckstrom and Wolfe remain in critical condition, Pirro said Thursday. “We are praying that they survive, and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree,” she said.
In West Virginia, relatives and friends are filling text chains with any updates they can get.
“We’re really all in shock and just like in disbelief that this happened to someone we know,” said Reeves, Wolfe’s friend. Reached by phone Thursday morning, Jason Wolfe, Andrew’s father, said, “Please pray for my son. We want prayers.”
The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Webster Springs, W.VA., was planning vigils for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the memorial wall in the town, according to the Webster County Veterans Auxiliary. The group referenced Beckstrom, who grew up there.
“As many of you have heard, one of the National Guard soldiers injured in yesterday’s tragic shooting in Washington, D.C., is from right here in Webster Springs,” the Auxiliary said in a Facebook post that had been shared more than 130 times by Thursday afternoon. “Our hearts are with her, her family, and all who were impacted by this senseless act.”
The auxiliary’s Facebook page also encouraged residents to hang blue ribbons outside homes, mailboxes, fences and porches—“for our hometown soldier.”
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
Write to Jennifer Levitz at Jennifer.Levitz@wsj.com
Families, friends and neighbors in West Virginia are rallying around two members of their state’s National Guard, who were shot while working in Washington, D.C., over Thanksgiving. They were there as part of President Trump’s crackdown on crime.
Who were the two troop members shot?
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom is assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia Army National Guard, according to the Defense Department. She is 20 years old and from Summersville, a small community in the mountains of West Virginia. She entered service in 2023, and had been on task-force orders in the district since the beginning of the mission in August of this year, officials said.
Social-media posts show her graduating from high school with an “honors” sash and hosting a housewarming party last year. Others show her family proudly displaying photos of her military service.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, age 24, is assigned to the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard, according to officials.
Wolfe is from the lower Shenandoah Valley, in Martinsburg, W.Va. The son of a deputy sheriff, he played varsity baseball in high school. “He was always cracking jokes especially when we were playing sports—he’s a real jokester,” recalled his high school teammate Nick Reeves.
Friends also say Wolfe showed an early sense of purpose. He joined the military in 2019, during his senior year of high school. He “was excited for it,” said Austin Breeden, another friend. “He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
Reeves said when Wolfe came home from Guard duty, he would socialize with friends and play in a cornhole league. The last time Reeves talked to Wolfe’s father, it seemed “Andrew was loving” being in the Guard, Reeves said.
Where were the Guards members at the time of the attack?
The shooting took place around 2:15 p.m., Wednesday, near the Farragut West metro station in D.C. A lone gunman opened fire “without provocation, ambush-style,” the district’s U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said during a briefing Thursday.
One guardsman went down, and then the shooter leaned over and struck the guardsman again, Pirro said. Another guardsman was then shot several times, she said.
What is the condition of the victims?
Beckstrom and Wolfe remain in critical condition, Pirro said Thursday. “We are praying that they survive, and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree,” she said.
In West Virginia, relatives and friends are filling text chains with any updates they can get.
“We’re really all in shock and just like in disbelief that this happened to someone we know,” said Reeves, Wolfe’s friend. Reached by phone Thursday morning, Jason Wolfe, Andrew’s father, said, “Please pray for my son. We want prayers.”
The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Webster Springs, W.VA., was planning vigils for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the memorial wall in the town, according to the Webster County Veterans Auxiliary. The group referenced Beckstrom, who grew up there.
“As many of you have heard, one of the National Guard soldiers injured in yesterday’s tragic shooting in Washington, D.C., is from right here in Webster Springs,” the Auxiliary said in a Facebook post that had been shared more than 130 times by Thursday afternoon. “Our hearts are with her, her family, and all who were impacted by this senseless act.”
The auxiliary’s Facebook page also encouraged residents to hang blue ribbons outside homes, mailboxes, fences and porches—“for our hometown soldier.”
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
Write to Jennifer Levitz at Jennifer.Levitz@wsj.com
One Subscription.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines
to 100 year archives.
Archives
HT App & Website
