The two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot in Washington were among more than 2,000 troops deployed to the US capital.
They were there as part of Donald Trump's crime-fighting mission that involved taking over the local police department.
Both soldiers were shot about two blocks from the White House in what Washington's mayor said was a "targeted shooting".
They remain in critical condition.
US President Donald Trump called the suspect an "animal" and said he was from Afghanistan.
"Based on the best available information, Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered the country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth, flown in by the Biden administration on September 2021," he said.
The US president has ordered a further 500 more National Guard members to the city after the shooting.
But why are they there in the first place?
Trump declared a public safety emergency
On August 11, Mr Trump launched the deployment after he declared a public safety emergency. He said his administration would also be removing homeless encampments.
He said he aimed to reduce crime, which he said was rising.
"Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals," he said at the time.
Data showed that following a crime wave in 2023, violent crime has decreased in recent years in Washington DC.
The city's attorney general said violent crime in the district reached 30-year lows last year and was down 26 per cent in 2025.
Preliminary police data backs that up, showing crime has indeed fallen this year.
Some armed with rifles, some gardening
There were 2,188 troops assigned to the joint task force that took over the city's policing, according to the government's latest update.
The guards come from several states across the country including Washington, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
Some troops have been armed and provided a military presence in public spaces, especially in federal parks, subway stations and Union Station.
Meanwhile, others have done yard work, removed graffiti and cleaned parks.
In early October, the joint task force said troops cleared 1,150 bags of trash, spread nearly a cubic metre of mulch, removed 50 truckloads of plant waste, cleared 12.7 kilometres of roadway, painted 82 metres of fencing and pruned 400 trees.
Despite a long list of community service, some National Guard troops have been sent out on patrols armed with handguns and rifles.
All units with firearms were trained and operating under strict rules for use of force, the military said.
The joint task force said the military's rules allowed force to be used "only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm".
It said troops were committed to protecting "the safety and wellbeing" of Washington's residents.
Locals unsure on armed guards
The soldiers' presence has unnerved some residents, who see it as presidential overreach on law enforcement.
"With these goons … I felt afraid and I had to go call some friends because I felt so afraid," Washington local Susan Gamble said in August.
Others say they approve, particularly of the National Guard troops focused on community improvement efforts.
After the shooting on Wednesday, local time, resident Michael Ryan said, "I feel terrible for the National Guardsmen".
"They were ordered to be here. They didn't ask for anything like this."
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has walked a fine line between appeasing the US president and pushing back on the deployment.
She has acknowledged that the campaign has helped push down crime, while arguing that the out-of-state National Guard deployment has not been "an efficient use of those resources".
On November 20, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to end the deployment, saying it illegally intruded on local officials' authority to direct law enforcement in the district.
US District Judge Jia Cobb put her order on hold for 21 days to allow for an appeal.
The District of Columbia had challenged the deployment, saying it was an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
The lawsuit said it violated Washington's Home Rule Act, signed by president Richard Nixon in 1973, and wrongly asserted federal control over units from other states.
Mr Cobb found that while the president did have authority to protect federal functions and property, he could not unilaterally deploy the DC National Guard to help with crime control as he saw fit or call in troops from other states.
ABC/AP
