Air Force Staff Sergeant Recovering Following Being Shot in the Nation's Capital
A member of the Air National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an ambush-style shooting last month in Washington DC.
The family of Andrew Wolfe, twenty-four, say "the injury to his head is slowly healing and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" stated the state's chief executive Patrick Morrisey.
The family expects the military non-commissioned officer to be in intensive treatment for the next two to three weeks, and they feel optimistic about his progress, according to the official's statement.
Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of a pair of state guardsmen injured by gunfire when a gunman opened fire in proximity to the presidential residence on 26 November. His fellow guardsmember, 20-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.
"Our request remains for all state residents and Americans for their thoughts and prayers!" Morrisey declared.
The governor attended a vigil on last Friday night for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in his hometown, where the serviceman was once a pupil.
A clergyman at the vigil shared a message from the soldier's parents, his family.
"We know that there is a long road to go," they expressed, according to regional media Metro News.
"But our belief keeps us hopeful. We remain grateful for the prayers and the encouragement from people all over the globe."
Earlier in the week, the state official said Staff Sgt Wolfe had responded to a nurse with a thumbs-up and was able to move his toes.
Police have formally accused the suspected shooter, an individual from Afghanistan named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Prior to his arrival to the US in 2021, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a paramilitary group that worked with American troops in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of 2,000 militia personnel whom President Donald Trump dispatched to the Washington DC in August as part of his immigration and crime-related crackdown in urban centers.
Following the incident, Trump said he desired an additional five hundred National Guard troops deployed to the nation's capital.
The former presidential office has also referenced the shooting as a reason for further immigration crackdown measures.
They have halted naturalization proceedings for foreign nationals from a list of nations that were part of a entry restriction implemented over the summer, including the suspect's home country.
