Washington — The man accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., late last year pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, was arraigned in federal court in Washington and entered a not-guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the case, said the suspected gunman will remain detained pending a trial.
Prosecutors allege that Lakanwal shot Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in an ambush-style attack not far from the White House on Nov. 26. Beckstrom and Wolfe served in the West Virginia National Guard and had been deployed to the capital.
Beckstrom, 20, was shot in the head and died. Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded.
Lakanwal was shot and wounded by another National Guard member during the attack. He was taken into custody by the U.S. Secret Service. He made his first court appearance virtually from a hospital bed.