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DHS: Two National Guardsmen Shot Near White House; Police Say Suspect in Custody. Aired 3:30-4 pm ET

Aired November 26, 2025 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: -- blocked off, but also trying to manage what was clearly a fast-moving, leaving work traffic situation going on, on the other side of this.

[15:30:10]

When you try to secure a scene like this, and obviously begin a very serious investigation, two Guardsmen shot here, how do you balance where that scene, where the division of that scene is from where the public can access versus this? And how do you control when you -- this does happen in the middle of a busy metro area like this?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they certainly have enough resources there on the scene. And so, they'll be securing the actual location where the shooting took place. But then they have to have a much broader area. And that's why you're starting to see other streets being shut down. They're going to try to identify the people that own the vehicles in that area and get them out of there and so forth.

Now, we know this person is not only in custody, but severely wounded. So, you're not going to get any statements from this individual. But at the same time, they may know exactly who this person is. So, now you're starting to go through their digital footprint. You're looking to see if they had a vehicle, for an example, that they, you know, how did he get to the scene?

I mean, there's a lot of information now, as far as the suspect goes, that right now, between the FBI and the D.C. police, they're going through all that right now. But they're going to have a pretty good- sized footprint as far as trying to secure that scene. But you ask how difficult it is, it's very difficult. You've got a lot of people in the district just on a normal day. And this is a holiday weekend with people traveling to the district for, you know, family or just to be in the district on Thanksgiving.

And so, yeah, but you got enough resources there. You look and see all the police officers, guardsmen, federal agents and so forth. Whoever's in charge, the incident commander is establishing that footprint and giving people specific assignments in terms of what they need to be doing right now. And that's important. So, you don't have a lot of people just standing around with no assignment.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yeah, no doubt, a lot of space to manage in downtown D.C., a lot of evidence and data to be gathered. We are learning just from a moment ago from CNN's Gabe Cohen and Holmes Lybrand, that the two National Guardsmen actually engaged with the suspect in gunfire prior to being shot. That's according to two law enforcement sources.

Of course, as we learned, the suspect was detained. And as we saw in that social media note from President Trump, he suggests that the suspect is critically wounded.

We'll, of course, stay on top of this story as we head to a quick break. Stay with CNN, we'll be right back.

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[15:37:32]

JIMENEZ: The breaking news right now, two National Guardsmen shot in Washington, D.C. And as we understand from Metropolitan Police, a suspect is in custody right now. We're awaiting further details, but obviously a very pressing situation as law enforcement have gotten the scene under control at this point. We are waiting on comments from the Vice President of the United States from Fort Campbell as part of expected remarks, which we're going to continue to monitor as well.

But we also want to bring in our Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller, right now.

John, what do you know about how all of this started?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Still trying to sort through that, Omar, but what I am told by talking to a number of people who are on the scene and around the scene gathering information is they believe at this point that it started near the Farragut Metro stop, the subway station just a couple of blocks from the White House. That is a place, transportation hubs and other locations where you commonly see National Guard people posted in Washington, D.C. And that the shooting began and that the two members of the National Guard attempted to engage the shooter.

Now, here's the big blank spot. Were they the target of the shooter or did they engage a gunman who was involved in shooting at someone or something else? That is the part that they are still trying to piece together. They are talking to witnesses to try and sort out who saw what, but the other critical thing here is going to be their ability to interview the two guardsmen, one of whom is in serious condition at the hospital, don't have the condition on the other one.

The suspect also wounded in serious condition at a trauma center. That leaves them to go over civilian witnesses, but also the video capture of whatever security cameras. And remember where we are in Washington, D.C. There are going to be a lot of security cameras that have the potential of capturing this from various angles, which will give them at least a visual of what they can see about what happened and importantly, how it started.

One of the great disadvantages here is this is not your typical police-involved shooting where it was put over the radio as it was happening or they were already responding to a 911 call. What you have is a shooting involving two members of the National Guard who may or may not have been the initial target.

[15:40:05]

What you've seen on the scene, and I think a lot of this was described by former Police Commissioner Chuck Ramsey and Andy McCabe is the massive law enforcement response. So, they have a lot of resources there from the FBI, from the diplomatic security service, from ATF, from the U.S. Marshals, from the Washington, D.C. Metro Police who right now, because right now this is a shooting in the streets of Washington, D.C., would be the lead.

Here's where that could change. If the National Guardsmen who are in uniform were targeted because they were National Guardsmen. That would be an assault on a federal officer. That could mean a federal crime. It would mean a federal crime. It could mean the FBI would assume the lead or a joint investigation with the D.C. Metro Police. But it's starting to come into focus about what happened. We're missing a critical piece about why it happened.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it remains a significant question. John, thank you so much for the update. Let us know when you hear more.

I do want to go back to Andrew McCabe because as you're hearing that, Andy, one of the key factors that will determine how this case and how this investigation moves forward, as far as who is leading it, is whether this individual, this shooter, deliberately targeted members of the National Guard or whether these Guardsmen engaged the shooter after an incident after the shooter acted first. We heard John there reference gathering camera footage as well as interviewing witnesses on the ground. Talk to us about that process of determining a potential motive.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah, Boris, so that's the key right now, right, is the why. As John mentioned before, why did this happen? If it's something as kind of standard as, let's say, this is hypothetical, we don't know what happened yet, but if these National Guard officers observed this person maybe assault another person on the street and they approached him with an eye of detaining him until law enforcement could get there to take him into official custody, and then that person not wanting to be detained, if armed, reacts and fires shots.

So, if it's something, a chance encounter that turned violent, that's the sort of thing that would be likely left in the hands of the Metropolitan Police Department and would be prosecuted at the local level, which for our listeners to understand, because it's the District of Columbia, the only court system that's here is the federal court system, but it has its own kind of -- they call it superior court, to handle these sorts of street crimes and violent crimes that normally would be handled in state court in any other state.

However, if this person targeted those individuals, those National Guardsmen, because they were wearing that uniform or because of what they were doing, then that's the sort of thing that would probably be looked at by the FBI, but through the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI Washington Field Office, that task force has members of every single one of the police entities that we've been talking about over the last few minutes. So, Washington Metropolitan Police is there, Secret Service is there, ATF is there, DEA is there, all these folks.

So, if this was a targeted attack on members of the military, it would be handled as a federal crime, and likely the investigators would come from the JTTF, and that would be handled through the federal courts here in D.C. If that person is not cooperative or is not able to cooperate because -- talking about the subject now, because of the injuries they've received, what you will see the FBI folks, the Joint Terrorism Task Force folks who have been deployed to this scene, the piece of this investigation that they will be focusing on now is identifying that person, which they have probably already done with what we call a quick capture fingerprint identification system.

And then with that identity, they will be expanding out in all the ways they can to understand what that person's motive might have been, looking at social media, looking at electronic devices, maybe executing search warrants at the residence or in a vehicle, that sort of stuff.

JIMENEZ: Andy McCabe, stand by for us. We're going to get in a quick break, but the breaking news right now, two National Guardsmen shot near the White House. We do not know if they were targeted or responding to a situation, but as we understand from the President of the United States, both critically wounded, suspect in custody, also severely wounded from the President.

We'll have more details coming up. Stay with us.

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[14:49:33]

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of the nation's capital on CNN and a tragic update now from West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey. He has confirmed that both National Guard members who engaged with this shooter just a block from the White House have passed away.

The governor writing on social media, "It is with great sorrow that we can confirm both members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot today -- earlier today in the nation's capital have passed away from their injuries. He says these brave West Virginians lost their lives in service of their country. We're in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues." Going on to say that the entire state grieves with their families, their loved ones and the Guard community.

[15:50:13]

We should note that the scene, according to officials, has been secured and a suspect is also in custody, which as of a few moments ago, President Trump confirmed was severely critically wounded as a result of this shooting.

We have our panel back with us and I want to go to CNN Chief Law Enforcement Analyst John Miller to get your reaction.

John, now that we've learned that these two Guardsmen have passed away as a result of what happened today?

MILLER: A picture that is increasingly looking like something happened very suddenly, very quickly and that it is beginning to appear based on the facts that come together. There's a strong likelihood that these two National Guardsmen were the target as opposed to they encountered something else going on, on the street and intervened. And I say that because I am told by sources that at least one of them suffered from a gunshot wound to the head and that this may have been something where they were targeted by the shooter before anything else happened.

And -- and by surprise, the shooter, of course, also wounded. Now, the rules of engagement for National Guardsmen in the street can vary from place to place about whether they are carrying their long rifles or just side arms or whether they're loaded and ready to go or whether the ammunition is carried separate.

In the case of Washington, D.C., the rules of engagement have been if you are part of President Trump's D.C. safe, beautiful task force, as he named it, then everybody, the agents from law enforcement agencies, but also the National Guard members are deputized as special deputy U.S. marshals, which allows them to be federal law enforcement agents while they're on duty and armed with loaded weapons. In this case, we believe that those two members were part of that task force and did have loaded weapons and were able to return fire because we also know the suspect was seriously wounded and taken to a trauma center.

So, we're not completely in focus here, but the picture is emerging as one that looks like they may have been the only targets of this shooting.

JIMENEZ: And to that point, John, at this point, we do not know of any other victims from this shooting. There are none, no other victims of the shooting at this point. As you mentioned, that picture becoming a little bit more clear.

But obviously, the tragic update that we got in just the last few minutes is these two National Guardsmen that were shot have died after the shooting, as was put out by the governor of West Virginia, where these National Guardsmen had deployed from.

While we've been speaking, the vice president of the United States has been making comments about this, saying this just moments ago. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE (R), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: It is great to be here in beautiful Fort Campbell, Kentucky. And let me just say -- I want to say first, before we get started, on a somber note, we had, and some of you may have seen this on your phones or on social media, but apparently there was a shooting outside the White House just a couple of hours ago. And we're still learning everything. We still don't know the motive. There's a lot that we haven't yet figured out. But what we do know is that a couple of National Guardsmen were injured in the line of duty.

And first of all, I want everybody who's a person of faith to say a prayer for those two National Guardsmen that they're able to spend Thanksgiving with their families instead of losing their lives, because I understand they're still in pretty tough condition. But I think it's a -- it's a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they're active duty, reserve, or National Guard, our soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America.

And as a person who goes into work every single day in that building and knows that there are a lot of people who wear the uniform of the United States Army, let me just say very personally, thank them for what they're doing. We're grateful to them and we're praying that they're going to be safe and they're going to spend Thanksgiving with their families. God bless them.

Now, I'm going to talk a little bit --

JIMENEZ: Obviously, all of this happening just the day before Thanksgiving.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And sadly, it appears that the vice president wasn't aware of the news that we just got from West Virginia's governor that the two National Guardsmen have actually passed away. And as we monitor the situation, more details come into focus. As we just learned from John Miller, it appears that at least one of the Guardsmen was shot in the head. And that changes potentially the nature of this investigation.

[15:55:06]

So, I do want to go back to Jonathan Wackrow if he's still with us.

Jonathan, I wonder quickly what you make of that detail and how that might shape what investigators are looking at here?

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Yeah, well, it really takes a tragic turn right now. This is a homicide investigation. With those deaths confirmed, the -- the case formally transitions into a homicide investigation. And when you look at the attack dynamics that John Miller had described, what investigators are going to do is they're going to work backwards now. They're going to start looking for additional pre-attack behavior by this suspect.

And the way that they're going to do that is through this video capture that they -- you know, we've described earlier, the hundreds of video cameras that are around not only this area, but, you know, throughout the district at large. They're going to look back and they're going to trace back the movements of the suspect to identify was this individual, you know, casing other locations to potentially launch an attack? Was there directed interest towards other members of the National Guard? They're going to look at all of that.

Again, these attack dynamics, the fact that these individuals were targeted is a significant fact right now. And there'll be more to come as this investigation continues.

JIMENEZ: And critically here, as we've again learned in the past few minutes of the two National Guardsmen killed, there was this question of whether they were actually targeted. And at this point, no other victims of the shooting outside of these two. And of course, as we understand that the gunman also the suspect also in custody, we know that from Metro Police as well.

SANCHEZ: It will be no doubt a thorough and extensive investigation as officials try to get down to the bottom of what happened here. It also portends questions for the future of this National Guard deployment in the nation's capital, whether the president sees this as a reason perhaps to expand it.

Stay with CNN, we're going to continue monitoring all of these details. Two National Guardsmen killed in a shooting just a block away from the White House.

Stay with CNN. Kasie Hunt begins after a quick break.

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