Two National Guard Members in Critical Condition After Shooting Near White House

Local and federal officials called the attack a “targeted shooting” by a lone gunman. The defense secretary said President Trump had ordered him to deploy 500 more troops to Washington.

Nov. 26, 2025, 5:58 p.m. ET

Campbell Robertson

Anton Troianovski and Karoun Demirjian

Reporting from Washington

Officials said the suspect was in custody. Here’s the latest.

Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were in critical condition after being shot near the White House on Wednesday afternoon, in what the city’s mayor called a targeted shooting.

Officials said the gunman was in custody and appeared to have acted alone. President Trump, who was in Florida, ordered a deployment of 500 additional troops to Washington in response, according to Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary.

Over 2,000 National Guard members from West Virginia, the District of Columbia and several other states are currently on duty in the nation’s capital, part of a deployment that the president first ordered in August as a highly visible way to crack down on crime.

The shooting on Wednesday took place around 2:15 p.m. Jeffery Carroll, the executive assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, said the gunman came around a corner, raised his gun and fired at the soldiers.

Chief Carroll said that the suspect had also been shot, though it was unclear who had wounded him. Mr. Trump said on social media that the gunman would “pay a very steep price.”

Here are the details:

Where it happened: The shooting took place just around the corner from the White House, in a tourist section of the city near the entrance to the Farragut West metro station. For months, National Guard personnel have maintained a daily presence there, often riding up and down the escalators.

Erroneous reports: Gov. Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia said in a post on social media shortly after the shooting that the two Guard members had been killed, but he later backtracked, saying there had been conflicting reports.

Witness description: Stacey Walters, a nurse who lives in Washington, was heading to the dry cleaners when she heard a pair of gunshots, she said. “I wanted to cry. I’ve never been so close to something like that, let alone at the holidays.” Both locals and tourists were rattled by the shooting.

Controversial deployment: The attack comes amid Mr. Trump’s highly contentious deployment of troops to the nation’s capital, where many have been concentrated in tourist spots. Last week, a federal judge ordered a temporary suspension of the deployment, finding that it was likely illegal.