Air Force Staff Sergeant Recovering Following Being Shot in the Nation's Capital
A servicemember of the Air National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an targeted attack last month in Washington DC.
The family of the 24-year-old soldier, 24, report "his head wound is slowly healing and that he's beginning to 'look more like himself,'" stated West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
The family anticipates the military non-commissioned officer to be in acute care for the coming fortnight, and they feel hopeful about his progress, according to the official's statement.
The serviceman was one of a pair of state guardsmen injured by gunfire when a shooter began shooting in proximity to the presidential residence on November 26th. His fellow guardsmember, twenty-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.
"We continue to ask all West Virginians and Americans for their prayers!" the governor said.
Morrisey was present at a candlelight gathering on Friday evening for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in his hometown, where the guardsman was once a pupil.
A pastor at the event read a statement from the soldier's parents, his family.
"We know that there is a long road to go," they expressed, as reported by regional media Metro News.
"But our belief keeps us hopeful. We remain thankful for the well-wishes and the encouragement from people all over the world."
Previously, the state official said the serviceman had acknowledged medical staff with a thumbs-up and was able to move his toes.
Law enforcement have charged the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with premeditated homicide and attempted murder.
Prior to his arrival to the US in two years ago, he was once a counterterrorism soldier in a paramilitary group that worked with American troops in the South Asian nation.
The injured airman was one of two thousand National Guard members whom the former president deployed to the Washington DC in August as part of his policy initiative in Democratic-led cities.
Following the incident, the former president said he desired an additional five hundred military personnel deployed to the District of Columbia.
The former presidential office has also referenced the shooting as a reason for additional restrictive policies.
They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction announced over the recent season, among them Afghanistan.
