Air Force Staff Sergeant Recovering After Being Shot in Washington DC
A servicemember of the Air National Guard is on the mend after he was gravely wounded in an targeted attack last month in Washington DC.
The family of the 24-year-old soldier, twenty-four, say "the injury to his head is gradually improving and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" stated West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
The family expects the Air Force staff sergeant to be in acute care for the next two to three weeks, and they feel hopeful about his progress, said the governor.
The serviceman was one of a pair of state guardsmen shot when a gunman opened fire in proximity to the presidential residence on 26 November. His colleague, twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, succumbed to her wounds.
"Our request remains for all West Virginians and Americans for their prayers!" the governor said.
Morrisey attended a vigil on Friday evening for Staff Sgt Wolfe at Musselman High School in Inwood, West Virginia, where the guardsman was once a student.
A clergyman at the event read a message from the guardsman's mother and father, Jason and Melody Wolfe.
"We know that there is a long road to go," they wrote, according to local news outlet outlets.
"However our belief keeps us optimistic. We remain grateful for the prayers and the support from people all over the globe."
Previously, the governor said Staff Sgt Wolfe had acknowledged medical staff with a thumbs-up and was capable of wiggle his feet.
Law enforcement have formally accused the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with premeditated homicide and assault with intent to kill.
Prior to his arrival to the United States in 2021, he was once a counterterrorism soldier in a paramilitary group that worked with US forces in the South Asian nation.
The injured airman was one of two thousand National Guard members whom President Donald Trump deployed to the nation's capitol in last summer as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the former president said he wanted an additional five hundred National Guard troops deployed to the District of Columbia.
The former presidential office has also referenced the shooting as a reason for further restrictive policies.
They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for foreign nationals from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction announced over the recent season, including the suspect's home country.
