National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom was killed in the White House shooting; learn about her service, the incident, and its impact on Washington, D.C. (Image Credit: X/ @annamlulis,@WVNationalGuard)
Sarah Beckstrom was a member of the West Virginia National Guard who served on patrol near the White House in Washington, D.C. She was one of two guardsmen involved in a serious incident on November 26, 2025, which drew national attention.
Sarah Beckstrom was a soldier with the West Virginia National Guard serving with troops that had been deployed in Washington, D.C., at the time of the November 26 2025, ambush near the White House. She was one of two Guardsmen shot that day; the other was Andrew Wolfe.
She joined the Guard in June 2023 and was serving with the 863rd Military Police Company, 111th Engineer Brigade, according to official records.
Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old at the time of the shooting.
Beckstrom had been shot in the head and chest. Investigators set the nature of her wounds as critical and mortal. Her father described her wounds as "mortal" shortly after the shooting, saying there was little hope of recovery.
On November 27, 2025, Sarah Beckstrom died from the injuries she suffered during the ambush near the White House the day before.
According to the authorities, Beckstrom was shot by the suspect identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national. She was shot in the head and chest during what has been described as a targeted, ambush-style shooting near a metro station just blocks from the White House.
Yes, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed as a result of the shooting incident. Military and federal officials confirm her death.
Beckstrom was an active member of the West Virginia National Guard, part of a force deployed to Washington, D.C. in 2025 under a broader federal deployment order.
She served in a military police capacity under the Guard's 111th Engineer Brigade unit.
According to prosecutors, the suspect fired a .357 caliber revolver first at Beckstrom and then at the second guardsman after he had expended initial rounds.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025, President Donald Trump publicly announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom.
Trump called her a “highly respected, young, magnificent person” who had “started service in June of 2023” and called her death a tragic loss. In his remarks, Trump also said the other Guardsman wounded in the attack, Andrew Wolfe, was still “fighting for his life.”
