US President Donald Trump says National Guard soldier Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who was shot near in Washington DC on Wednesday, has died.
Another soldier who was also shot, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, is fighting for his life in hospital, the president added.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort during his Thanksgiving call to US troops, Mr Trump said he had been told of Specialist Beckstrom's death seconds before fronting the media.
"Highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023, outstanding in every way, she's just passed away. She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now," he said.
"Her parents are with her. This just happened. Savagely attacked, she's dead. She's not with us.
"Incredible person. Outstanding in every single way, in every department. It's horrible."
Specialist Beckstrom had been in a critical condition since being gunned down just blocks from the White House on Wednesday, in what authorities called an ambush-style shooting.
She and Staff Sergeant Wolfe both underwent surgery on Thursday, but her father, Gary, told The New York Times his daughter was unlikely to survive, calling her injury a "mortal wound".
The alleged shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is in custody and is himself in a critical condition after also being shot on Wednesday.
Mr Lakanwal has lived in Washington state with his family since 2021, when he entered the US under a Biden administration resettlement program called Operation Allies Welcome.
The program was designed to evacuate and resettle tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with the US during the conflict in their country, which was taken over by the Taliban in 2021 in the wake of America's hasty withdrawal.
Officials said Mr Lakanwal worked as part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before resettling in the US.
While the FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of terror, and Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said it appeared to be targeted, local police said investigators were yet to establish a concrete motive.
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Mr Lakanwal was believed to have driven across the country in the days before the shooting, with the intention of coming to the capital.
Mr Trump, who called Mr Lakanwal a "savage monster", used the announcement of Specialist Beckstrom's death to criticise his predecessor, saying there had not been sufficient vetting of those looking to resettle.
"This atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country," the president said.
"For the most part, we don't want them."
Following his address, Mr Trump told reporters he would soon speak to Specialist Beckstrom's family.
Asked whether he would consider attending her funeral, he said it was "certainly something I could conceive of", adding that he had won her home state of West Virginia at the last election by "one of the biggest margins of any president, anywhere".
Deployment to US capital 'extraordinary'
More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to the US capital since August, after Mr Trump declared a public safety emergency over rising crime rates.
However, the city's attorney-general said violent crime in the district had reached a 30-year low last year and was down 26 per cent in 2025, a statement backed up by preliminary police data.
Since then, National Guard members from states across the country have been patrolling the streets of the capital, making themselves visible in public spaces such as federal parks and train stations, but also taking on local volunteer work, such as picking up rubbish.
The operation, since replicated in a number of other US cities including Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, has been described by political experts as "extraordinary and highly unusual".
Specialist Beckstrom and Staff Sergeant Wolfe, also from West Virginia, are believed to have been sworn in to take part in the operation less than 24 hours before they were shot.
Trump orders 'a lot more' B-2 bombers
Mr Trump also used his Thanksgiving message to tell military members his administration had ordered "a lot more" B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, the aircraft used to strike Iran's nuclear sites earlier this year.
"Those beautiful B-2 bombers, they totally obliterated the nuclear, potential nuclear supply of Iran," Mr Trump said.
"We just ordered a lot more of them and the reason we did is they were totally incredible, totally invisible," he added, repeating a claim he has made repeatedly about stealth aircraft.
He also spoke about potentially eliminating income taxes "almost completely" in the US due to tariff proceeds, a proposal that has been ridiculed by tax experts.
