National Guardsman Recovering After Sustaining Gunshot Wounds in Washington DC

A servicemember of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was gravely wounded in an targeted attack last month in Washington DC.

The parents of Andrew Wolfe, 24, report "his head wound is slowly healing and that he's beginning to 'regain his familiar appearance,'" said the state's chief executive the governor.

The family expects the military non-commissioned officer to be in acute care for the coming fortnight, and they feel optimistic about his progress, said the governor.

Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of a pair of state guardsmen shot when a shooter opened fire in proximity to the White House on 26 November. His fellow guardsmember, 20-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.

"We continue to ask all West Virginians and Americans for their thoughts and prayers!" the governor said.

The governor attended a vigil on last Friday night for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in Inwood, West Virginia, where the guardsman was once a pupil.

A clergyman at the vigil read a message from the soldier's parents, Jason and Melody Wolfe.

"We know that there is a long road to go," they expressed, as reported by regional media Metro News.

"However our belief keeps us optimistic. We remain thankful for the prayers and the support from people all over the world."

Earlier in the week, the state official said Staff Sgt Wolfe had responded to a nurse with a positive gesture and was able to wiggle his feet.

Law enforcement have charged the suspected shooter, an individual from Afghanistan named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with premeditated homicide and attempted murder.

Before coming to the United States in 2021, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a paramilitary group that worked with US forces in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of two thousand National Guard members whom President Donald Trump deployed to the Washington DC in last summer as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Trump said he wanted an additional five hundred National Guard troops deployed to the District of Columbia.

The Trump administration has also referenced the attack as a justification for additional restrictive policies.

They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for foreign nationals from a list of nations that were part of a entry restriction implemented over the recent season, among them Afghanistan.