A National Guard member was shot in the leg and a suspect was wounded in the abdomen during a late-night exchange of fire on October 18, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The shooting occurred after seven or eight Guard members deployed in a parked van exited to intervene in a sidewalk fight in Eastern Market. Police report non-life-threatening injuries for both parties amid ongoing debate over President Donald Trump's federal troop deployment to the capital.
Federal deployment of the National Guard
- ▪President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. in August 2025 as part of a crime-fighting mission that peaked at approximately 5,000 troops.
- ▪Local D.C. officials, activists, and residents criticized the federal Guard deployment as a waste of taxpayer money that normalizes city militarization, noting crime was already declining before arrival.
- ▪The Trump administration extended the National Guard's deployment in Washington, D.C. through the 2029 presidential inauguration.
November 2025 attack on Guard members
- ▪Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal was charged with over a dozen federal counts, including death penalty-eligible murder, for the November 2025 National Guard shooting.
- ▪In November 2025, an ambush near the White House resulted in the death of National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and the critical wounding of Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe.
National Guard intervention in the fight
- ▪Seven or eight National Guard members exited their van to intervene after observing a fight break out on a sidewalk in the 400 block of 8th Street SE.
- ▪The injured National Guard member was one of seven or eight troops stationed in a parked van monitoring the neighborhood before the altercation.
Exchange of gunfire and injuries
- ▪A National Guard member was hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds after being shot in the leg at approximately 11:10 p.m. on October 18, 2026, while attempting to break up a sidewalk fight in Eastern Market, Washington, D.C.
- ▪Three National Guard members returned fire during the October 18, 2026 incident after an armed individual pointed a firearm at them near an alleyway.
- ▪The suspect was shot in the abdomen during the October 18, 2026 exchange of fire with National Guard members, received hospital treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, and was arrested.
Police investigation into the shooting
- ▪The Metropolitan Police Department's Internal Affairs and Criminal Investigation Divisions opened an investigation into the October 18, 2026 National Guard shooting, declaring no ongoing threat to the community.
- ▪Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll stated that it was not immediately clear which National Guard member fired the shot that struck the suspect.
- ▪Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll stated that other participants in the initial sidewalk fight fled the scene when shooting began, prompting police to seek witnesses.
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