Brigadier General Leland D. Blanchard II looks towards pictures of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington on November 26, along with a picture of a suspect, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, at a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, attorney Jeanine Pirro and other authorities in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Alleged Washington D.C. shooter Rahmanullah Lakanwal may have been coerced into carrying out last week's attack on two members of the West Virginia National Guard, according to a new report.

The Daily Beast's "The Swamp" newsletter reported Tuesday that U.S. intelligence sources are investigating whether the Taliban may have blackmailed the 29 year-old Lakanwal into shooting 24 year-old Andrew Wolfe and 20 year-old Sarah Beckstrom. Wolfe remains in critical condition, while Beckstrom died from her injuries. Lakanwal was also shot during the ambush-style attack and remains hospitalized.

According to one unnamed intelligence source, Lakanwal may have felt pressured to drive across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington to the nation's capital, if Taliban fighters gave him an ultimatum to either attack U.S. troops or have his family killed. The source noted that the threat may have been particularly effective given that Lakanwal helped the U.S. fight the Taliban during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

"It is by no means our only line of inquiry," the Beast's source said. "People in this country have no idea about the level of stress these people are under. Most of them have families back home, and if the Taliban cannot get to them, they are making it very clear that they will go after their families."

In Afghanistan, Lakwanwal was a member of the Afghan Scorpion Forces, who worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a GPS tracking specialist. Lakanwal was on one of the very last flights to the U.S. out of Kabul along with more than 120,000 other Afghan refugees, who feared retribution from the Taliban if left to fend for themselves.

The Beast further reported that the Taliban has since formed a military unit dubbed "Yarmouk 60" whose mission is to track down and kill Afghans who helped the United States. The outlet's source said that one member of the "Afghan Triples" unit that was set and funded by the United Kingdom escaped to Germany and hoped his family would follow. However, Yarmouk 60 fighters ended up killing his wife, his father and four of his children.

Lakanwal has been charged on one count of murder, two counts of assault with the intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. ABC News reported that he was arraigned remotely from his hospital bed in Washington D.C.

Click here to read the Beast's full report (subscription required).