Two National Guard shot near White House, suspect held (Full Transcript)

[00:02:49] Speaker 1: Breaking news within the last hour from the United States and Washington D.C., where two members of the National Guard have been shot near the White House in Washington, D.C. Police say one suspect has been taken into custody and emergency officials have confirmed to the BBC that three people have been taken to hospital, although we don't know exactly what their condition is. Caroline Leavitt, the Trump administration's press secretary, has said that the president has been briefed on the incident. He's actually in Florida at the moment for Thanksgiving. These are the live pictures, as you can see, where those streets are cordoned off at the moment. And President Trump has posted on Truth Social, I'm just going to read you out what he says. He says, the animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but, regardless, will pay a very steep price. He says, God bless our great National Guard and all of our military and law enforcement. are truly great people. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidents, am with you." So President Trump posting on this shooting incident, in which we understand three people have been injured, and President Trump saying two people, two guardsmen have been taken to hospital, but we understood that possibly a third person has also been injured in this attack. It is very close to the White House where there's obviously huge security and you can see there the White House and the incident below where there's basically a huge security cordon now, as you can imagine. We saw some shots earlier, in fact, of the National Guard gathered there. They have been deployed, as you will know, across some cities in the United States and we don't have any motive for this attack, we don't have any details of it, but of course deployment for some has been very contentious. That is the backdrop to what has happened. Caroline Lovett has said that the White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation. The President has been briefed and that is clear because he has now posted on it. And the Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noem, posted on X saying, please join me in praying for the two National Guardsmen who were just shot moments ago in Washington DC. The government is working with local enforcement to gather more information. And I speak to Tom Bateman, a colleague based in Washington, who describes the scene and said that it is a place where it's a little bit quieter today because of the Thanksgiving holiday but it is a scene where many White House staffers and other government staff work in offices. There it is, it's square in the heart of downtown, very close to the White House itself. President Trump left for Florida last night for the Thanksgiving break so it is a little bit quieter there but it was a formal normal working day and he spoke to somebody who'd heard gunshots and it is near a metro station so you can see there that there's a lot of police as you'd expect and emergency services. President Trump saying that two National Guardsmen are both critically wounded and in two separate hospitals and also saying that the attacker who did this is also severely wounded. So that is the scene and as you can imagine it is now being blocked off with presumably everyone trying to gather as much information as possible from eyewitnesses from those who heard and saw what happened. People out there with their phones but also blocked off from freely moving around the Cordon D'Oeuf area and there'll be a lot of people of course who have perhaps come out of offices and perhaps trying to leave the area too. So two members of the National Guard have been shot and that is around a block or so from the White House. President Trump is in Florida because of Thanksgiving tomorrow. We haven't had any comments yet from the US Secret Service despite requests for comment from Reuters news agency. They are reporting that and as I said no clear motive for this attack. But But President Trump posting on Truth Social saying that the two National Guardsmen who were shot near the White House have been critically wounded and the gunman, we don't know who is behind us, has also been severely injured. So President Trump posting there on Truth Social. You can just see the top of the White House there with the flags above it. And that is an aerial shot, as you can see, of the centre of Washington. But there's always huge levels of security and a very quick response to any incident. As I said, not clear what the motive is, but you can see the police have cordoned off the area. We saw National Guard men also gathered there on the street. So if you are just joining us, just to remind you, the pictures that we are bringing you at the moment are from the centre of Washington DC, it's around a block or block and a half from the White House and two National Guardsmen have been shot by a suspect who's been apparently also injured. Police say that the suspect has been taken to into custody. President Trump has said that the suspect is also severely wounded themselves and he's posted saying that The animal, quotes, that shot the two National Guardsmen with both being critically wounded and now in two separate hospitals is also severely wounded, but regardless will pay a very steep price. He said, God bless our great National Guard and all of our military and law enforcement. The question of the National Guard has become polarizing because they have been deployed into cities under this administration, with President Trump arguing about making the streets safer across a number of cities, but a certain amount of pushback also from those who don't believe it is necessary. So it's become a polarizing issue, but I should stress that we don't have any motive or any detail on the circumstances for this, but you can see people are gathering there but also not permitted to go into the area that's been cordoned off where the shooting actually happened. We will bring you more on that as we get those details, but just to stress that the US President is not in Washington at the moment, he is actually in Florida. He left DC last night, yesterday afternoon, I think, for the Thanksgiving break. So he is not in Washington. But the National Guardsmen have been shot near the White House and you can see the there in that picture. That aerial shot of DC and our correspondent Tom Bate was saying it is still a working day so people still in the city even though some people had left for the break.

[00:14:10] Speaker 2: thank you. Yeah, 17th and Pennsylvania. He might have gone there. I don't know. I honestly haven't been. Oh, there he is. Yeah, you're I just wanted to get here quick, you know, like I didn't bring all the, everything I Just get a shot of wine, that's it, and then let the rest of them do it. No, I know, but that's where she went from here.

[00:14:49] Speaker 3: Like, that's probably a good idea. Keep the understanding. But I would say what she did, that's probably a good idea. Thank you for your hard work.

[00:14:59] Speaker 4: I can't go fast enough. I know.

[00:15:00] Speaker 3: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Hey guys, just don't get in front of me, that's all I'm going to do. Guys, the line's right there.

[00:15:05] Speaker 2: ♪♪ ♪♪ I'm going to do a quick interview, and then we can move on to the next one. Do you know their names? Uh... Do you actually know who they are? Oh, actually, I can tell you. Guys, you've got to excuse me. I'm going to leave it.

[00:18:36] Speaker 1: The guards have been shot in a shooting incident that is very close to the White House. The attorney general has said federal agents are now on the scene of the horrific shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington. Also, it is being reported by Reuters that the FBI director is engaged and assisting with this. President Trump has also posted on Truth Social about what has happened here. He is not in Washington himself. He is in Florida because it is a Thanksgiving break, but you can see the map there and the live scene where the streets have been cordoned off. It's around a block or so from the White House. There was a shooting in the last hour or so with two National Guardsmen being wounded. President Trump says, quotes on Truth Social, that the animal that shot the two National Guardsmen with both being critically wounded and now in separate hospitals is also severely wounded but regardless will pay a very steep price. He goes on to praise the military and law enforcement officers there and we don't know the motive or the details of exactly what happened but it is happened in an area of downtown in the US. Let's listen to J.D. Vance, the Vice President.

[00:20:00] Speaker 5: 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 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 want to talk a little bit about the business of the Army and about what you're doing and about why it's important to the United States of America and why we are proud of you, every single one of our soldiers here in Fort Campbell and all across the world. We have got some incredible guests here here to honor this moment, to honor you, to say thanks to so many of you for spending time away from your families here this day before Thanksgiving and I want to give just a few shout outs to some some of our special guests before we get started.

[00:21:27] Speaker 1: First of all, to General Travis. Two National Guardsmen have been shot in Washington. Praising the National Guard and members of the military there. It is Thanksgiving tomorrow. We don't have any further details at the moment but that is still the scene. We understand that the FBI director and the FBI are engaged and assisting with that investigation. As I said, we don't have the details as yet, although more are coming in all the time. We will come back to that as soon as we can. I should say that there's obviously a huge amount of security near the White House, but President Trump is currently in Florida. Yeah, I think that'll work.

[00:22:17] Speaker 6: Let's see, can you repeat it for me?

[00:23:28] Speaker 7: Is it the shooting afterwards?

[00:24:14] Speaker 8: Okay. Yes? Yes? Full. Okay, okay. Perfecto.

[00:24:27] Speaker 9: No se, que te ha dicho Jason?

[00:24:29] Speaker 8: I don't know, or should we put it on the first one? I don't know. Ok, perfect.

[00:24:36] Speaker 9: So it would be shooting, shooting, and from behind. Ok, perfect.

[00:24:42] Speaker 8: Ok, ok. Listen Oh, Vincent, this is good. So, we have a new passenger on board.

[00:24:46] Speaker 10: We have a different voyage, Charles, from the interior of the place you are in front of you. Wow. The camera can see you. Here comes the light. Here comes the light. OK.

[00:26:13] Speaker 3: OK. How you doing? How you doing? It's nice to see you.

[00:26:44] Speaker 7: Nice to see you.

[00:26:45] Speaker 3: Nice to see you.

[00:27:11] Speaker 7: Thank you. Okay.

[00:27:13] Speaker 11: Yeah.

[00:28:13] Speaker 1: But reports from President Trump that the two people who were hit in this shooting were in critical condition, President Trump also said that the attacker themselves was also severely injured. These are the latest pictures from the scene. We've seen the police, the fire trucks, we've seen the National Guard. The deployment of the National Guard, of course, has been contentious in a number of cities. President Trump saying he wanted to make cities safer, concerned about crime. And we've heard in the last few minutes also from the Vice President, Jody saying the motive is not yet known but the shooting did happen a couple of hours ago. And you can see a huge security presence there. As I said we don't have a motive at the moment but President Trump said that the two National Guardsmen who were critically wounded were in two separate hospitals arrivals. The President also said the person who was behind this attack was also severely wounded. The President said that they will also pay a steep price. Just to let you know, arrivals also into the Reagan Washington International Airport were paused initially because of the location, but normal operations have been resolved. Well, just to let you know, we are getting more details now on the on the shooting that's happened there in Washington. These are the latest live pictures, and I just want to let you know we have had a statement from the governor of the state of West Virginia. Just let me read you out this statement, which says, it is with great sorrow that we can confirm that both members of the West Virginia National Guard, who were shot earlier today in Washington, DC, have passed away from their injuries. These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country. We are in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues. Our entire state grieves with their families, their loved ones and the guard community. West Virginia will never forget their service or their sacrifice and we will demand full accountability for this horrific act. You can see that's been posted there by Governor Patrick Morrissey, Governor of the state of West Virginia. So confirmation there that two members of the National Guard who were shot earlier have died as a result of those and the governor there expressing his sympathies. We heard earlier that President Trump had also posted and is being updated on this development. Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, said federal agents are in the scene of the attack and the FBI director is engaged with this, but confirmation now that after the shooting that happened in the last hour or so, the last hour or two, in the center of Washington, Washington DC, just about a block from the White House, so an area of high sensitivity with a lot of staff members working in offices, administration jobs in the area and the National Guard who were deployed in Washington for some time now. Two members of the National Guard were shot near the White House in Washington DC. Police had said that a suspect had been taken into custody. President Trump had posted that the suspect too had been critically injured themselves or severely injured, as he said, on Truth Social. And now confirmed that two members of the National Guard have died as a result of those two injuries. Members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot earlier today have passed away. That statement coming from the governor of the state of West Virginia. The statement saying our entire state grieves with their families, their loved ones and the Guard community. West Virginia will never forget their service or sacrifice and we will demand full accountability for this horrific act. The deployment of the National Guard, it should be said, has been very contentious in a number of cities in the US but we don't have any details of who the attacker was or any motive for this attack. It was reported earlier that the White House had been put into lockdown, we haven't confirmed that but we did have a statement from Caroline Leavitt saying that they were aware of what has happened and they were keeping across it. President Trump of course being briefed on all the events. President Trump is in Palm Beach, we understand, ahead of the Thanksgiving break. We saw J.D. Vance speaking earlier, I gather, in Kentucky and he also said that they didn't have a motive for what had happened but confirmed that two National Guardsmen had been hit in this shooting. Our colleague Tom Bateman spoke to one of the people who was there. We are hoping to speak to him shortly. And he's actually on the scene. And he had told us that he'd spoken to someone who heard the gunshots. And the whole area, as you can imagine, cordoned off. But people still gathered there. And you can see the police there in your shots. It is very close to the White House. So, a very quick response, I'm sure, from security agencies. But the governor there confirming now that two members of the West Virginia National Guard have been shot and have now passed away from those injuries. The police saying that the suspect, one suspect, is now in custody. And the president posting on Truth Social, saying that the suspect, too, has been severely injured. Well, we can bring in now my colleague, Catriona Perry, who is in our Washington studio. Catriona, just bring us up to date with what you're hearing now, too.

[00:35:02] Speaker 12: Yes, we're just looking, as we're talking here, aren't we, at these live pictures of the area where this shooting has occurred. And just for a bit of context, to put that area to describe to viewers. It's actually just a couple of blocks from the BBC office here in Washington, DC, and just a block or two from the White House there. The National Guard members who we've just had that news confirmed by the governor of West Virginia have been killed, both of them hailing from West Virginia. There are about 2,000, 2,500 National Guard members in Washington, DC. They have been stationed here since the summertime when President Trump decided to deploy them to the streets to clamp down on what he had described as a crime wave in Washington, D.C. So I can tell you, as someone who lives in this city, they are now a very familiar site all around the downtown area, where we're looking here, through Georgetown. They're particularly stationed at metro stations and at points of the day that are described just kind of peak time points on those metro stations. You'll see them on platforms, you'll see them outside the stations. And at weekends, you'll see them just wandering through parks along the waterfront, the riverfront here in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac, so they have become a very familiar sight here in Washington, D.C. We did see a number of protests, of course, shortly after their deployment from people living in D.C. who felt there just wasn't a need, wasn't this crime wave or a need for National Guard troops to be assigned to the city streets. And we have, as I say, seen a lot of protests over the last few months, individuals being followed along the streets and so on. On this occasion, of course, we have no details exactly on the incident itself, other than reports from those on the scene that multiple shots were fired two National Guard members as we now hear from the governor in West Virginia have lost their lives because the National Guard members here in DC have come from a variety of different states at the request of the Pentagon assigned to the streets of the capital here. There's a large area downtown sealed off there we were speaking to our colleague Tom Bateman earlier but also a lot of of colleagues here in the office and all of our friends and family have been passing through that area because it's just gone 4 p.m. local time here on the eve of Thanksgiving so very much a time when anyone who's in work today was rushing to get home or do that last-minute bit of shopping for their turkey and whatnot or head to the train station and the airports here to transit back to meet family and friends. So a lot of people on the move at this time, getting prepared for basically what is the national holiday of this country tomorrow. So just as we look now at those live scenes from the centre of Washington, DC, let's cross over to my colleague Tom Bateman, who is there for us. Tom, a huge police presence. There are many, many agencies involved in this. What's the latest that you can tell us?

[00:38:29] Speaker 11: Well we just got moved back, Katrina, as the police have expanded this cordon even further. A few minutes ago we were a bit further down this street, close to the metro station, outside which the two National Guardsmen were shot. And at that point there was this bus shelter, bus stop, the glass of which was completely shattered and appeared to be the location of the shooting itself. And what has happened, as I say, in the last few minutes, the police are pushing us all further and further back. I mean, there's clearly a lot of investigation work going on there. But just to give you a sense of the geography, I mean, if you walk down the street to my right here, in 30 seconds, you're at the White House. This is in eyeshot of the Washington Monument. We're in the heart of downtown, administrative, governmental Washington, D.C., within a stone's throw of the White House itself. And outside of that metro station, you know, we've seen over recent months with the deployment of National Guard, National Guard often outside transport hubs, that is where the shooting took place. I spoke to several eyewitnesses as soon as we got here, a couple of people who said they heard first two gunshots and then a pause followed by another three or four gunshots. There was panic. People were running from the scene. I spoke to somebody who runs a liquor store. He said people were piling into his shop trying to take shelter as the gunfire rang out. And then I spoke to another eyewitness who was driving right next to the metro station itself. His car pulled over, he got out and he filmed the aftermath of this and I saw his footage with two uniformed National Guardsmen on the sidewalk down. At that point they were just starting to be treated by medics and a third person, a civilian, it appeared to be also down and being treated. Now, the eyewitness who filmed that said to me he didn't know whether that was the gunman or whether it was a civilian but obviously it appears now from what President Trump has said about this that the gunman himself is severely wounded is now in custody and also that news as you've been saying in the last few moments that Patrick Morrissey the governor of West Virginia confirming that these these were two West Virginia Guardsmen and saying that both of them have died from their injuries and Tom given the location of this shooting not just adjacent to the White House but in the center of Washington DC which is home to the headquarters or at least outposts of most of the big investigative agencies, law enforcement agencies in this country.

[00:41:15] Speaker 12: It's perhaps not surprising that we've had such rapid response from the FBI, from the Secretary of Homeland Security. Bring us up to date on some of that reaction and what we know about the investigations that are going to take place now?

[00:41:32] Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean there's just an absolutely huge response from both federal agencies and Washington DC agencies. We've seen police, we've seen more National Guard troops here now and the area, the exact spot where the shooting happened is just absolutely packed with law enforcement. As you say, I mean And where this has happened is going to escalate this in terms of the response to it and the sense of investigation. We heard from Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, within minutes really, saying that the president had been briefed. He is, as you've been saying, at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He went there last night for the Thanksgiving holiday, but he's been fully briefed on what has taken place. And the vicinity in which this has happened is obviously going to add to concerns about why this has taken place. But we know nothing at this stage has anything to do with motive. It will, of course, be part of the investigation being seen in the context of the fact that National Guard have been deployed quite recently to cities like Washington, D.C. That in itself has been politically controversial, of course, that deployment directed by President Trump himself. He said he wanted to bring down crime in Washington, D.C. He was getting the support of Muriel Bowser, the mayor of D.C., but it was still a politically quite charged issue. But of course, as I say, we know nothing at this stage about the lines of investigation, anything to do with motive or the circumstances, although I think we understand there may be a media point being set up for a bit more information to be given by the authorities. we might be getting a bit more of a sense of the picture in the in the moments to come.

[00:43:22] Speaker 12: Indeed we're hearing from DC Metropolitan Police Department that they may be holding a media briefing in the next little while of course we will keep across that and bring it live as it happens and Tom just to build on what you were saying there about the National Guard deployment here to Washington DC, just a week ago actually a US district judge here had had ruled that that deployment was unlawful, and had put the—issued an order, essentially, saying that those National Guard troops should be withdrawn from the streets of the capital. Now, she did put her ruling on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration to either remove the troops or appeal that decision, the Trump administration, though, indicating quite clearly that they wanted to keep those troops in place on the streets of the capital. We hear President Trump speak so often, in fact, about how happy he is, what a successful operation he sees this as. He speaks so frequently now about how he feels people can walk the streets of the capital in a way that he says they couldn't do before. Of course, that view has been highly contested by many people who do live in the district here who would not have agreed with his view on some of those crime statistics. Indeed crime figures had been on the way down in recent years here in Washington DC. Now we've also seen a temporary stop put on flights at the nearby Reagan National Airport which is a very very short distance from where this shooting happened. A very very busy day today Tom isn't it with everyone traveling for Thanksgiving, and although it's kind of the eve of Thanksgiving, still a working day in Washington DC, so it would have been quite busy around the area where you are at the time that this shooting happened.

[00:45:19] Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean it's, you know, as you say, it's the eve of Thanksgiving, so people do tend to leave DC, but it was still a working day, and I mean as we arrived here, it was extremely busy. I talked about, you know, somebody who said that, you know, people were running from the scene as they heard the gunfire ring out. Just to update Katrina, because we talked about Patrick Morrissey, the governor of West Virginia, who had posted on social media saying he was confirming the deaths of the two National Guardsmen. Well, he has just posted again to say we are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and we'll provide additional updates once we receive more information. Our prayers with these brave service members. So, you know, a bit more important information there potentially from the governor of West Virginia. In terms of, as I say, you know, the initial moments when we arrived, it was, you had emergency services both sort of flooding into this scene and people in shocked by what had happened. And I spoke to two or three eyewitnesses and people who heard the gunfire themselves as we arrived.

[00:46:26] Speaker 13: Yeah, because I'm helping a customer and she said, oh, do you hear the shooting? No, maybe it's construction, I said. Then again, like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, and everybody running, and same customer running and come to the store. So when we're out, everybody running there, like, we didn't expect that shooting.

[00:46:41] Speaker 11: People were running inside your shop trying to escape.

[00:46:44] Speaker 13: Yeah, to escape, yeah, and everywhere they're running that side also. And what were people saying? What, what, what? Yeah, they're just confused. They didn't expect shooting around here, and like, some people said it's construction. same thing like I said and when everybody running they realized that's shooting and immediately the police siren come. Did you come out of the store did you see something? Yes exactly I mean like everybody running you see you can't see from here it's like maybe like one block right yeah.

[00:47:10] Speaker 14: What did you see when you came out?

[00:47:12] Speaker 13: Just everybody running, just the shooting I hear and everybody running from the circle.

[00:47:18] Speaker 12: So Tom just some of the people that you were speaking to a little bit earlier on and just that last speaker there talking about how everyone was running and shocked because of course shootings do take place in this city but very unusual to have one so close to the White House at this time of day as well.

[00:47:39] Speaker 11: Yeah absolutely I mean you know in the last few years recorded crime in Washington, violent crime has been falling. That said you know there is still very significant violent crime across the board in Washington. Often tends to be concentrated in particular suburbs. And you do get violent crime downtown in the center, but it is an area that's often so busy with police, and now National Guard, and so on, that that was intended very much to deter violent crime. And so I think it has been extremely shocking to people who were working here, who have been here during the day. I mean, we're not far from quite a few major shopping areas as well. And ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, that is why, you know, this area was particularly busy, especially as soon as we arrived.

[00:48:36] Speaker 12: Indeed, there are a lot of families I've noticed in town, Tom, today, because, of course, where you are, it's just a block or two from the National Mall as well. And a lot of people do come to Washington for Thanksgiving as well, meeting up with their children might be studying at some of the universities here but let's just go back to the major news I suppose that we first got from the governor of West Virginia saying that these two National Guard members had been killed he's now walking that back as we mentioned a moment ago saying we are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information our prayers he says are with these brave service members their families and the entire guard community. It really speaks, Tom, doesn't it, just to the sort of chaos that's around in the aftermath of an event like this, particularly with so many agencies involved, such a heavy police presence there.

[00:49:34] Speaker 11: Yeah, of course, because, you know, there's been obviously a huge amount of questions about exactly what happened and, you know, clearly that sort of vacuum is getting filled quite early on with information that, you know, is now potentially being revised. But I think in terms of, you know, particularly what the footage has shown, what I saw from one of the eyewitnesses when I arrived here, you know, clearly the incident, we know it involved two National Guardsmen. I mean, I saw the footage of them on the sidewalk being treated at that point, and the injuries being described as critical as they were being taken to hospital. And also then the issue of this third person, who in the footage, you know, a civilian, the eyewitness who filmed that said to me they didn't know if that was a bystander or potentially the gunman. We know from President Trump having posted on social media that the gunman, he says, was wounded, and the police themselves saying that the suspect is in custody. So piecing all that together, it was clearly going to be an incident that caused this huge deployment of emergency services. As I say they've continued to push back the cordon away from the area so we can't really now see exactly where they are where the forensic investigation would be taking place but I mentioned I think there is an expectation of a bit more official information potentially at another point where the police here have been asking media to go where the authorities may give an update potentially quite soon.

[00:51:24] Speaker 12: And just on that issue of the civilian Tom, I suppose for context for people, you and I both live here and for the last few months these armed National Guard members, they do just walk along the streets and through the tourist areas, along the train station platforms, just beside the rest of us, don't they? I mean they're not physically stationed, some of them are, but most of them are just meandering along there as a deterrence factor, as the President would say.

[00:51:54] Speaker 11: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, the entire issue of the deployment of National Guard had been something that, you know, President Trump said he would do in cities that all, you know, all happen to be Democrat-run cities. Around the issue of Washington, DC, you know, It was extremely contentious and politically controversial, because here you had the administrative capital which is locally democratically run, but which Mr Trump had always seen as an area where on the issue of crime, he'd always argued more needed to be done. It needed a sort of forceful approach. Having said that, the statistics have showed that although, as in all American cities, there are significantly high levels of violent crime, it had been falling over the last three years in Washington, D.C. So his political opponents were pushing back hard, saying that sending the U.S. military into American cities was a completely disproportionate and unnecessary measure. And in their view, this was being done as a political act by the president. In his view, and those of his supporters, it was about creating this sort of deterrent effect. Now, what we had seen on the ground from day to day were National Guard troops, many of them at transport intersections, train stations, the metro, but all tending to be around the administrative centre of the city, not really out in further suburban areas, particularly other areas where there may be locally high crime. The argument of the administration was that that was about freeing up local law enforcement to allow more police officers to go and deal with violent crime. But it was interesting. You'd obviously see National Guard, many of them unarmed. They were then given the authority to be armed, and you would see some with guns. But largely, I tend to see unarmed National Guards sort of wandering around. Often it would seem with not really much to do. And particularly given, for the large part, as far as we were aware, they remained without the power to arrest and so that had sort of added to this idea that it was all for the optics but it has been politically charged and of course I think you know we don't know about the motive here we don't know about the circumstances but you know questions will start to be asked about whether or not that context has had anything to do with what happened here and at the moment we simply don't know the answer to that at all but it was notable you how many more National Guard we saw in the square there in the immediate moments after the shooting took place.

[00:54:37] Speaker 1: Tom, it is Gita here in the studio in London. I want to remind people who might be just joining us a bit of what has happened. There has been this shooting in the last hour or two. We are seeing you on the scene. Just to bring everyone the latest details from the governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrissey, who had said that he thought that to the the National Guards who had been shot had died of their injuries, but he has now posted this, saying, we are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information. Our prayers are with these brave service members, their families and the entire guard community. So we had heard initially, Tom, from President Trump saying that the two National Guard members were in a critical condition and he said that the attacker also was severely injured. and then we heard from the West Virginia governor that the two guardsmen had died of their injuries and now that isn't clear.

[00:55:41] Speaker 11: That information is being revised by Patrick Morrissey, the governor of West Virginia. Just to go back through what we heard from eyewitnesses when we got here was that several of them told me they heard, first of all, two gunshots and then a pause, followed by more gunfire. So we don't know whether or not there was armed personnel here that were firing back the gunmen. All of that is unclear. But certainly from the pictures I saw from what one eyewitness had filmed when he got in, there was a civilian down on the sidewalk. That eyewitness said it wasn't clear to him whether or not that was a bystander or the gunman himself. But as we know from Mr. Trump and now from other officials saying that there is a suspect they describe in custody, but the president's saying the gunman is severely wounded. So, you know, piecing all that together I think it's giving us a bit more of a picture as to what happened. But it all happened immediately quickly and if this was a response by security personnel to the initial shooting it would appear to have happened extremely quickly.

[00:57:01] Speaker 1: And Tom I know you've been speaking to some of the people there who saw and heard what happened we just want to play some of the interviews that you managed to get there.

[00:57:09] Speaker 15: I didn't know at first because it was like two shots and then three more came right behind it. Yeah, that's right.

[00:57:16] Speaker 11: So five shots you heard. And then did you did you come and look? What did you say?

[00:57:22] Speaker 16: Oh no, I ain't getting by no gun shooting. I was scared so I went that way. You run? I didn't run but everybody else was running. Everybody was running. Yeah, everybody was running. It's a big fight. Everybody had to hear it because they was coming out these buildings right here looking. I was in this Starbucks sitting, drink coffee. I hear two shots. It's boom, boom.

[00:57:46] Speaker 13: Then after that, boom, trying to escape.

[00:58:10] Speaker 17: Yeah, to escape, yeah, and everywhere they're running that side also.

[00:58:13] Speaker 13: And what were people saying? Yeah, they're just confused, they didn't expect shooting around here and like some people say it's construction, the same thing like I said, and when everybody running they realize that's shooting and immediately the police siren come.

[00:58:29] Speaker 14: Did you come out of the store, did you see something?

[00:58:31] Speaker 13: Yes, exactly, I mean like everybody running you see, you can't see from here, it's like maybe like one block, right?

[00:58:36] Speaker 14: Yeah, yeah. What did you see when you came out?

[00:58:38] Speaker 13: just everybody running, just the shooting I hear and everybody running from the circle.

[00:58:44] Speaker 1: Tom, some of the voices that you gathered there, still obviously some confusion is about the state of those people who have been hit. Just tell us a bit more about the contentious nature of the fact that the National Guard were deployed. I mean, how had that been received in Washington?

[00:59:03] Speaker 11: Well, I mean, it really fell along the the political lines of this country and the supporters and Republicans of President Trump really agreed with the move often, his political opponents and Democrats did not and pushed back quite strongly. The point about Washington DC is it votes overwhelmingly Democrat, it's one of the most Democrat supporting cities in the country, but there was an interesting dynamic in the Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, had taken a political decision to really be quite supportive or at least not argue in public with this, and to choose to see it as an opportunity really to free up more local resources in law enforcement, to allow them to go out and to do more of catching criminals while you have the National Guard in the heart of the city. So there was a different approach to things here than there had been, for example, in a city like Chicago, where both the city authorities and the state governor had really decided to publicly push back and argue with the policy, almost to the point of refusing to cooperate with it on the streets themselves, and particularly with what always went hand-in-hand with this was the deployment of immigration officials to carry out raids against undocumented migrants. So you were seeing this, in Democrat cities, this sort of contentious nature of these policies that were being rolled out. Here in D.C. there was that slightly different dynamic to it, but you know, you would often see National Guard, and we still see them, particularly in the administrative heart downtown Washington D.C. being deployed, but often, I remember in the initial days and weeks of it, we went out filming, we were at Union Station filming some National Guard, quite a few of them outside, and I was chatting to many of them and asking what they'd been doing, and they were saying, well, there isn't really that much to do. And I think really, you know, it was, it was seen as something that was there as a kind of physical and visible presence. But I mentioned that issue about at least in the early days, certainly no powers of arrest. And it was, I think, being seen by the President as being something that was to create deterrence, but allowing law enforcement to be freed up elsewhere, but it has been extremely contentious because remember this is the deployment of the US military into American cities where this had previously been done at points of unrest in cities and suddenly you had it as being, you know, deployed as a law enforcement measure particularly in places where crime had actually been coming down. But as we're saying all this, of course, let's remember we still don't know anything about the circumstances here. We don't, we haven't had any word from the authorities about motive but you know I think it's pretty clear that that will be a line of inquiry early on given the fact that we saw two National Guardsmen being shot.

[01:02:07] Speaker 12: Tom just to update there and we've had some more response from inside the Trump administration from the Vice President JD Vance and also from the Defence Secretary or War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Secretary Hegseth has posted a video indeed to the Department of War rapid response account and in that video Secretary Hegseth says that these individuals, these National Guardsmen were shot by a person in what he calls a cowardly act targeting the best of America. He describes the individuals as heroes willing to serve. He says the attack on these National Guard troops will only stiffen our resolve. And then he says President Trump has asked me to add 500 troops, National Guardsmen, to Washington DC. So that's in addition to the 2,000, 2,300 National Guard troops that are already here.

[01:03:08] Speaker 11: And we'll hear what Vice President Vance has been saying in just a moment but Tom I want to go back over to you because I believe you have an eyewitness there beside you yeah I mean remember I said you know when we showed up here is extremely busy middle of the afternoon the eve of Thanksgiving still a working day plenty of people were here when the gunfire broke out joined by Michael Ryan who's thank you very much for talking to us on BBC News just tell me what you were doing and what you experienced what you I was headed to a late lunch, I guess, and I was headed towards 17th Street, and when I got on the corner of 17th and I, we were across the metro, and that's when I heard gunfire and other people did.

[01:03:56] Speaker 18: So we started to run. I remember a UPS truck blowing by really fast. He obviously had seen what had happened. We got about halfway down the street, and everything was quiet, so we kind of thought maybe it was construction or something going on, and then there was another round of gunfire. We headed back towards 18th, and then maybe one or two minutes later, we walked back to where we were previously at across the street. There was just one police car there, and the glass was broken out in the bus stop, and they were yelling at somebody to stay down, then they moved some sort of utility truck that was parked there, and that's where we noticed that there were two National Guards down, and one they were trying to resuscitate.

[01:04:51] Speaker 11: So that sounds like, from what you could see on the sidewalk, the attempts to give medical intervention happened extremely quickly. I mean, you just came back.

[01:05:03] Speaker 18: Yeah, I came back like one or two minutes later, probably not even that, you know, it was upsetting to see because there were a couple of National Guard members hugging each other that were obviously very upset for obvious reasons.

[01:05:17] Speaker 11: So how close were you to the metro station when you heard the gunfire?

[01:05:20] Speaker 18: Right across the street.

[01:05:22] Speaker 11: What went through your mind when that took place?

[01:05:24] Speaker 18: It was kind of surreal at first, you know, and again, like, you know, a lot of people we thought that it was just construction, you know, going on. Even some of the security guards that came out were like, oh, it's probably just the construction. But, you know, obviously it wasn't.

[01:05:40] Speaker 19: Did you have any sight, any sense of the shooter, of, you know, how this had unfolded?

[01:05:47] Speaker 18: I just remember seeing, hearing them telling him to stay down. So I guess the shooter was struggling to get up. And there was just a lot of shouting, stay down, stay down. And it looked like they were on top of him. At that point, there was a police car there.

[01:06:15] Speaker 19: Were these other National Guard or were these police that were on top of him?

[01:06:20] Speaker 18: So, I believe it was police, and there was, I believe, another National Guard on top of him as well. One of the people was wearing like a black hat, which I'm guessing he's either a civilian or somebody in uniform, and he wasn't able to see any identification. But he was being subdued, and they were yelling for him to stay down. So to me it sounded like that, you know, he was probably trying, he was struggling a little bit with them.

[01:06:51] Speaker 11: And do you have any sense, because I've heard this from a couple of other eyewitnesses or people that heard what happened, that there was an initial burst of gunfire, then a pause and then another, you know, more gunfire, which tallies with what you said. Yeah, correct. I mean, is your sense that, you know, that this was an attempt to subdue the attack at the second burst? Do you have any idea?

[01:07:11] Speaker 18: You know, we were about four storefronts down when we heard the second rally. To me, it didn't sound like the gunshots were different. So obviously, I'm not an expert on guns, but to me, it kind of sounded like they came from a same type of gun.

[01:07:36] Speaker 19: What was the mood? What were people saying to each other as you escaped this scene?

[01:07:40] Speaker 18: Well, a lot of people were saying the same thing. Was that gunshots? A lot of the security people outside were like, oh, it's probably just construction doing work. And that was noise from it. But then, obviously, when we walked back to the scene, it was not construction.

[01:08:00] Speaker 11: Well, thank you so much, Michael, for talking to us and bringing us your account of what took place here. And of course, remember, as I say, we are a block away from the White House here. So all of that taking place in what is one of the most highly secured areas on this planet. And there you have an account of the moments that that gunfire broke out and exactly what the response was.

[01:08:26] Speaker 1: Tom, thanks very much. Indeed, we'll be back with you in a moment. We just want to bring in another guest now, Matthew Schmidt, Associate Professor of National Security and Political Science University of New Haven. Thanks for being with us. Just your initial thoughts on what we're hearing.

[01:08:42] Speaker 20: I just, I feel for the National Guard members, this is horrible. And this is just another example of the increase in political violence that we're seeing in this country this year.

[01:08:55] Speaker 1: And we obviously don't know what the motive is of this attack or the exact circumstances. But just tell us a bit about, first of all, the security that is in this part of DC?

[01:09:09] Speaker 20: So it's quite extensive. And with the National Guard on the street, it's even more secure than usual. And so it's gonna be very interesting to find out who the assailant was and what the motive was and how the assailant was able to perpetrate the attack. Of course, one of the problems with the United States is that there's a easy availability of guns. And so that generally is not the interesting question for us. But it's early moments right now.

[01:09:41] Speaker 1: And again, we don't want to jump to any conclusions because we don't have the details here. And we're still not sure about the condition of the two National Guard members who were injured in this attack, or indeed the suspect. But just talk to us a bit about the tensions that the deployment of the National Guard has caused.

[01:10:04] Speaker 20: So I was just in Washington this weekend, and I was there again the prior weekend with students, university students, and it's quite noticeable as you're going about the city when you notice the National Guard. The last time I saw a deployment like that was actually on 9-11 when I was in the city at that time. And so it's very strange to see the National Guard sort of going around, doing their presence patrol, frankly looking bored, and I think sort of looking like, what are we doing here? We're not quite sure what our purpose is on the streets, but we're following orders, and so we're here and we're doing it. And this is gonna change that. This is going to make everybody much more nervous. I think you'll see, if you haven't already seen, Guard members now will be carrying weapons for self-defense, and you're gonna see this spread all across the country now, where you're going to have just more people on the street with more guns, with more anxiety about political violence from whatever direction.

[01:11:12] Speaker 1: Does this sort of incident in any way justify, perhaps, President Trump's actions on this front?

[01:11:19] Speaker 20: We just don't know anything yet as to motive or means right now. So I don't wanna speculate whether it does or doesn't justify it, But I do feel pretty confident in saying what we know about the president and the administration is that this will provide an opportunity for them to argue their point about an increase in political violence from the left, whether or not that is applicable here.

[01:11:49] Speaker 1: And how much of a focal point has the National Guard question become and where has it been particularly most acute?

[01:11:59] Speaker 20: Well, it's become a major question in politics all over in the major cities that we've seen the deployments or the attempted deployments in Portland, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles probably being the largest of them. And this is a question that goes back to the earliest days of the republic and to the nature of presidential power and where the lines are on that power. And it's often confusing for people because we call them the National Guard, but they're in fact generally under the control of the state. And it gets more confusing in Washington, D.C. because the D.C. stands for District of Columbia, which is not a state, which is a federal entity, a federal district. And so the legality of deployments there is different than, say, the legality of deployments in Alabama. And so we're really seeing right now in 2025 yet another evolution of this question of what kind of power does the executive have in this country and how has that involved since the days of George Washington to Donald Trump?

[01:13:07] Speaker 1: Can I just check very quickly, are the National Guard normally armed or does that differ in different places?

[01:13:13] Speaker 20: It depends on the nature of the deployment. Generally speaking they are deployed for, you know, emergencies, weather emergencies for instance, and they would not be armed. But if their deployment is to, you know, to stop looting, say after the fires in Los Angeles, then in some cases those troops would be armed.

[01:13:30] Speaker 1: Matthew Schmidt, we'll leave it there, but thank you very much indeed for being with us today. Thanks.

[01:13:36] Speaker 12: Now, we've been looking there at live pictures of the scene where this shooting incident took place just about two hours ago or so. We can bring you another scene now, which is about a block away from there you can see a lot of microphones and there are journalists and reporters and camera people set up there because we are expecting the DC Metropolitan Police Department to hold some kind of media conference to update us on the condition of the individuals who have been shot and indeed on the investigation because as we were discussing earlier there is some confusion as to the condition of those two members of the National Guard the governor of West Virginia initially saying that they had been killed and then posting another statement to say that he was receiving conflicting information as to their condition. So at this point in time their condition remains unknown other than they are in a critical condition. We'll bring you more on that of course as soon as we get it but at this time of day we're usually discussing all things related to US politics with our panel and they've been patiently standing by while we've been discussing this breaking news situation. So let's bring them in now. David Tafuri, foreign policy analyst and advisor to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, and Robbie Suave, libertarian journalist and senior editor at Reason magazine. And I just want to go to you first, David, because you actually walked through this scene, I believe, on your way to our studios here.

[01:15:08] Speaker 21: That's correct. right next to where the incident happened. I got there after it happened. There were a lot of people, a lot of police cars, a lot of flashing lights, huge crowd still around the area. This is very tragic, as you've said and as your guests have said, but also as you mentioned, it's important not to jump to any conclusions. We don't know if this was political violence or this was a common criminal, yet the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. has been controversial, but there hasn't been any violence against them. There hasn't been that type of backlash. And while people might be annoyed by the presence of the National Guard, the actual National Guardsmen have not engaged in anything that would you would consider provocative. They have just doing their job. And I think most people here in D.C. recognize that they're doing what they've been ordered to do. And so, hopefully, this wasn't someone reacting to their presence. But there is a lot happening with the National Guard. I would also note that just a week ago, a federal court here in D.C. ruled that the administration cannot send the National Guard to D.C. But the reason they're still here is the judge said that the ruling would not go into effect while the Trump administration appealed that ruling.

[01:16:27] Speaker 12: And Rob, looking at these scenes, I mean, we have to point out, this is quite unusual for Washington, D.C. Yes, it's a capital city, it's a big city. is gun crime here, although statistics show it had been on decline, but for a shooting like this to happen involving National Guard members so close to the White House in the middle of the day is unusual.

[01:16:49] Speaker 22: Well, of course it's unusual, and our prayers go out to those National Guard members and their families. You know, it is a little bit complicated. As you said, crime has come down, thankfully, in the District of Columbia, where I also reside in the last few years. It came down from a place of very high crime. There is not just a perception, but a real danger faced by many people in the city, a city that is partly managed by the federal government. There are a large number of parks, green spaces, buildings that are the purview of the federal government. Sometimes I think the problem we have in D.C. is that there are jurisdictional issues over which police department, which agencies are responsible for maintaining order. And what you've seen, and I can say as a resident who lives in a fairly nice neighborhood of the city, that even in a nice neighborhood, there's been a high number of disorder these past several summers from gangs of, frankly, young people who are misbehaving, whose bad behavior was, in my view, absolutely deterred by the National Guard presence that we've seen over the past few weeks. And that's borne out by the statistics by fewer murders in this time period than there were last year. So yes, controversial because of all the issues at play, And no one wants to see federal troops on every city corner as the kind of permanent answer to crime. But this is a city where the federal government had to take some responsibility for the unique amount of disorder that we were all witnessing and concerned about.

[01:18:20] Speaker 1: And David Tafuri, obviously, as you said, we should not jump to any conclusions because we don't know the motive of this attack or what exactly is behind it. But we are seeing reports already of potentially an extra 500 troops being deployed in Washington after this shooting. How do you think the administration should react or could react now?

[01:18:39] Speaker 21: Well, I think the administration should also be cautioning people that we need to learn more about why this incident happened before we overreact to it. It could be a random incident of violence or it could be a political attack. But I think the administration should be cautious about using this to try to accomplish other goals. This is very unfortunate, and concerns should be for the families of those two National Guardsmen who were injured, and I would also mention that while the presence of the National Guard was deemed necessary because of crime in D.C., National Guardsmen are not trained to do common law enforcement, and that's not what their role is, and they don't have the training, they don't have the power to arrest. So this was only supposed to be a temporary solution to crime in D.C. The more permanent solution is to get more police on the streets, and that requires more budget, and that's what the federal government should be thinking about is, how do we get more permanent presence of police who do law enforcement, who've been trained to do it, in order to reduce crime?

[01:19:54] Speaker 12: Okay, David, just while we're listening to you there, we're looking at the pictures of that media briefing. Looks like it's about to start. We can see in the front row there the FBI Director Kash Patel. Let's have a listen to him.

[01:20:05] Speaker 23: The tragic events that happened today at approximately 2.15 local time in Washington, D.C., where two of our brave members of the National Guard and the Department of War were brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence. They were shot. They're in critical condition. As you As you can see behind me, we have assembled the full force of both the federal and state and local law enforcement agencies to bring bare all of our resources to make sure we find the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act, and make no mistake, they will be brought to justice. Since this is an assault on a federal law enforcement officer, this will be treated at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will lead out on that mission with our interagency partners to include the Department Homeland Security, Secret Service, ATF, DEA, and we're thankful for the mayor's assistance in this matter. The Metropolitan Police Department and their skills in investigating homicides and gun shootings in this city is exceptional. We will work together, collaboratively, because this is a matter of national security, because it's a matter of pride. President Trump has been informed. We've been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington, D.C., and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice. I would lastly like to add to the American public and the world, please send your prayers to those brave warriors who are in critical condition and their families. They are here serving our country. They are here protecting everyday Americans and citizens around the world in our nation's capital. They are the heroes of this day, and we must remember them on this day and every day and their families and the sacrifice they have made. I will now turn it over to Chief Carroll, the Metropolitan Police Department. Thank you.

[01:21:56] Speaker 24: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jeff Carroll. I'm the executive assistant chief here at the Metropolitan Police Department. At approximately 2 15 this afternoon, members of the D. C. National Guard were on high visibility patrols in the area of 17th and I Street Northwest when a suspect came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members. The National Guard members, there were other members that were in the area. They were able to, after some back and forth, able to subdue the individual and bring him into custody. Within moments, members of law enforcement in the area were also able to assist and bring that individual into custody. At this time, as the director mentioned, the National Guard members are being treated at a local hospital. DC Fire and EMS responded to the scene to provide first aid for those individuals and transport them to a local hospital. The suspect in this case was also transported for treatment at a local hospital.

[01:22:52] Speaker 25: I'm there. I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the mayor of Washington D. C. And I too want to send my thoughts and prayers to the families of the guardsmen into the guardsmen who are in critical condition in a local hospital. I am joined by members in leadership from the D.C. National Guard, from the West Virginia National Guard, United States Secret Service, Deputy Mayor Pia, Fire Chief Donnelly, and Metro's General Manager Randy Clark. And we join with the FBI Director in ensuring that MPD investigates the U.S. Attorney, prosecutes this case to the fullest extent of the law. I've had the opportunity to brief U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was speaking to the president when I called, as well as the United States Attorney Pirro, who assured me that this case will have her office's complete attention.

[01:23:58] Speaker 4: Mayor, was there any other suspect? Chief? Sure.

[01:24:03] Speaker 24: So, no, at this time, there was no indication that there was any other suspect. The one suspect that was involved in this incident, they were shot during the interaction and they were transported to the hospital for treatment.

[01:24:12] Speaker 4: Mayor, does this validate the need for the National Guard here in D.C.?

[01:24:16] Speaker 25: What we know, Andrea, is that this is a targeted shooting. One individual who appeared to target these guardsmen, that individual has been taken into custody.

[01:24:27] Speaker 26: You can tell us about a boatload of details on the condition of the two National Guardsmen and whether or not anyone else was injured. And a quick question follow-up for the FBI director, you said that we'll make sure we find the perpetrators for this act, so just to clarify, the person believed to be responsible is in custody and there are no other suspects?

[01:24:50] Speaker 24: Sure, so I can start out, again, Chief Carroll from MPD. So both the individuals, the guard members, they are in critical condition at a local hospital at this time being treated. At this point we have no other suspects. We have reviewed video from the area. It appears, like I said, to be a lone gunman that raised a firearm and ambushed these members National Guard, and he was quickly taken into custody by other National Guard members and law enforcement members. No. At this time, obviously, we're very in the preliminary stages investigation. There's a lot of things, a lot of agents that air here from various federal agencies, law enforcement agencies. We have the full power of the FBI and our federal partners here, the task force. So we're looking all those different aspects, but we don't have any the National Guard's men that were shot. I'm told they were arms. Do they get At this time, that's part of the preliminary investigation.

[01:25:34] Speaker 3: We know how the suspect was apprehended.

[01:25:39] Speaker 24: Sure, so how the suspect was apprehended, as I said, the individual, the suspect, came around the corner, he immediately started firing a firearm at the two National Guard members. So at that time, there were other National Guard members that were in the area. They heard the gunfire. They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect after he had been shot on the ground until law enforcement got there within moments.

[01:25:59] Speaker 10: And he was shot by a National Guard man?

[01:26:01] Speaker 24: At this point, we're still investigating exactly who shot that individual. It's not clear at this time.

[01:26:05] Speaker 10: Were there DC police men in the area?

[01:26:07] Speaker 24: We don't know what kind of weapon. There was DC police. It happened right in front of the Metro, although there is no indication that the perpetrator was on the Metro. So there's Metro Transit Police in the area, and obviously being on 17th Street by the White House, Uniformed Division of Secret Service were in the immediate area as well.

[01:26:21] Speaker 10: And do you know what kind of weapon the alleged perpetrator used? We do not know at this time. Still in the investigation. We're going to be able to take a couple more has been able to question the suspect or is his condition so severe that you haven't been able to have a conversation?

[01:26:34] Speaker 24: Sure. And so as I said, we're very preliminary in the investigation. So we're looking to all aspects of who the individual is, his connections at this time. He's still in the hospital receiving treatment.

[01:26:42] Speaker 23: And I would just like to hang on. I would just like to add the reason that this suspect is in the reason that this suspect is in custody is because of the bravery of the men and women of the National Guard who responded due to their extensive training to secure American lives today, there was not any further injury and any further shootings. We should highlight the fact that the men and women of law enforcement, the interagency, the Department of War, and the National Guard executed their training with great precision today and prevented an even greater tragedy from befalling us. These National Guardsmen are heroes and we must pray for their safety and their speedy recovery and as the Chief said, we are in the preliminary stages of this investigation. We will run down every single lead, every piece of evidence. This is the power of the U.S. government at its best at the state, local and federal level. That is why this interagency group is standing behind us to assure America and the world that we will continue to keep D.C. safe. And thankfully, we have Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guardsmen and federal agents and the Department of Justice and an attorney general willing to prosecute the mission to keep Americans safe. And President Trump has rightly stated that this heinous act will be investigated, and he has thanked the National Guard's men and women, and the men and women of law enforcement.

[01:28:04] Speaker 10: Did the suspect say anything at the time of the shooting? Why did the West Virginia governor say that they did not kill him?

[01:28:24] Speaker 4: Was anyone else shot? Have the families been notified? General, what about the... I'll take that. Thank you. Sorry.

[01:28:44] Speaker 12: No, it's all good.

[01:28:45] Speaker 4: Thank you.

[01:28:46] Speaker 12: You're watching BBC News. We've just been watching there a media conference held just a block from where we had that dramatic shooting here in Washington, D.C., just about two and a half hours ago, and we've heard some further details now from some of those involved in the investigation. We heard from the FBI director, Kash Patel, first of all, confirming that the two members of the National Guard who were shot are in a critical condition. There was some confusion earlier when the governor of West Virginia posted on X confirming the deaths of two West Virginia National Guard members, but just to be clear, the FBI director Kash Patel saying now that two National Guard members are in critical condition. Indeed, the Assistant Commissioner of the DC Metropolitan Police Department described them as members of the DC National Guard. So we're seeking clarification on just where the individuals were from, but they are in a critical condition at this time. Getting some more details on what was involved in that incident, the deputy commissioner and the FBI director describing this as an ambush. They said a lone gunman came around the corner of a building where two members of the National Guard had been on patrol and fired at them at close range, shooting both of them. He said the other agencies in the area responded very fast because, of course, this was adjacent to a train station. There are a police station, train stations in this city, ordinarily. Also then members of the Metropolitan Police Department responded. They were attended to at the scene and they were brought then to a nearby hospital where, as I say, they're in critical condition at this time. Those speaking there said that there was just one gunman, one suspect in this incident who was also injured is in custody and has also been taken to one of the nearby hospitals in the city here and is being treated for his injuries. A lot of questions put there to the FBI director, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the deputy police commissioner about motive for this. They said they had no motive at this time, but they did use that word, as I say, ambush to describe what had happened. There was also some efforts, it would appear, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to bring the suspect under control. There were a number of people involved in that before he was transported to hospital. The mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, saying that she has been speaking to the president about what's happened here and, indeed, to the attorney general, Pam Bondi. President Trump is in Florida at the moment. he left for Mar-a-Lago yesterday because major holiday here in the US tomorrow, that being Thanksgiving. So she has spoken to him on the phone and she said that the President said that this incident was getting the complete attention of all of the authorities, of all of the law enforcement agencies on this. Now at this point our viewers in the UK will be shortly leaving us to watch the BBC News at Ten that will be hosted by Clive Myrie and they will have lots of information on this. If you're in the UK that's what you're about to start watching. For those of you in the rest of the world and here in the US do stay with us here on BBC News because we will be staying with this incident, this dramatic shooting in Washington DC just about a block from the White House about two and a half hours ago when as we've just heard from the authorities there a lone gunman came around a corner and the word being used was ambushed two members of the National Guard who were on patrol in Washington DC. Their condition is critical. You're watching BBC News. This is special coverage here on World News America of a dramatic and tragic incident that has happened here in Washington DC in the last two and a half hours where two members of the National Guard have been shot and are in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington DC at this time. A lone gunman carried out the attack we're told and that person was also injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and is in custody but has themselves been taken to one of the area hospitals here in Washington DC for treatment. We heard in a media briefing from the director of the FBI, Cash Patel, just a few moments ago to say that the FBI would be the lead agency on this and it would be investigated in the manner of an assault on an officer. These two members of the National Guard having been attacked by a lone gunman, Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, has described this as a targeted shooting, although wasn't in a position to give any further details on motive. Confirmation as well that these members of the National Guard were themselves armed. Of course, there are between 2,000 and 2,300 members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., having been deployed here during the summer at the direction of President Donald Trump to combat what he had seen as a rising crime wave here in Washington, D.C. although these statistics did not bear that out, but nevertheless the deployment of the National Guard had been welcomed here in Washington by Mayor Muriel Bowser. She indeed spoke to the President numerous times about that and appeared at an event in the Oval Office with President Trump as well, welcoming the members of the National Guard. We've heard from the Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, the War Secretary, that he has been speaking to the President in the aftermath of this shooting and the President has asked him to deploy an extra 500 members of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. As I say, just over 2,000 members are already here from the National Guard. Six states sent National Guard members to the capital and indeed some of the D.C. National Guard here as well. They've been involved in patrolling areas of the capital city around federal buildings along the National Mall, at train stations, metro stations, and they have been also aiding in some, as the President described it, beautification of the city at various sites through the capital. Well, let's have a little listen now to some of what the FBI Director Kash Patel said just a few moments ago.

[01:35:42] Speaker 23: Where two of our brave members of the National Guard in the Department of War were brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence. They were shot. They're in critical condition. As you can see behind me, we have assembled the full force of both the federal and state and local law enforcement agencies to bring bear all of our resources to make sure we find the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act. And make no mistake, they will be brought to justice. Since this is an assault on a federal law enforcement officer, this will be treated at at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will lead out on that mission with our interagency partners to include the Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, ATF, DEA, and we're thankful for the mayor's assistance in this matter. The Metropolitan Police Department and their skills in investigating homicides and gun shootings in this city is exceptional. We will work together, collaboratively, because this is a matter of national security, because it's a matter of pride. President Trump has been informed we've been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington, D.C., and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.

[01:36:58] Speaker 12: So the director of the FBI there, Kash Patel, speaking to members of the media just shortly before 5pm Eastern Time, describing what had happened and crucially confirming the condition of those two National Guard members as critical at this time. There had been some confusion earlier when the Governor of West Virginia had posted to say they were deceased, but the FBI Director confirming there that they are in critical condition. The gunman, the lone suspect at this time, is in custody and that individual is also in hospital being treated for their injuries. well let's go live to the scene there to my colleague Tom Bateman. Tom you were watching across that press conference as well, we're learning a little bit more about just what happened and the word being used by the law enforcement personnel we just heard from was an ambush.

[01:37:55] Speaker 11: Yeah I think you know very significant in terms of the sequence of events and then the way this was described and I think one of the most significant words there was from Muriel Bowser the mayor saying that this was a targeted attack that these National Guardsmen were targeted by the gunmen and her describing there and also with the police talking about the gunman having a come around the corner raised his arm and fired at the two National Guardsmen before then other National Guard troops who were nearby managed to subdue the the gunman. Now, that would fit with, of course, what we're being told by some of the eyewitnesses that I spoke to when we first got here. They said they heard a rally of gunfire to start with two shots initially, but then this pause and then more gunfire. And one of the eyewitnesses that we spoke to live here on BBC News in the last hour saying that he returned to the scene almost immediately after people had fled and run in panic, came back and saw what appeared to be the gunman being subdued with several either police or National Guards on top of him, trying to subdue him. And that person, as we know now from the authorities, is being taken into custody and is also wounded. And, significantly, that update there from the authorities that the two National Guards troops are described as in critical condition, and that revising some of that information that we'd heard initially from the governor of West Virginia saying that the National Guards had died. So, an important update there about their condition, critically injured, and also about the nature of the attack. Nothing more clear on a motive itself, but I think very significant this is being described as a targeted attack.

[01:39:45] Speaker 12: Okay. And, Tom, there was also some confusion earlier about whether any civilians were involved in this attack.

[01:39:58] Speaker 11: Yeah, well, there was no information in the briefing there to suggest that there was any bystander or civilian involved. We know that some of the eyewitnesses, including some footage that one of them had filmed, showed what appeared to be a civilian on the floor being treated by medics. But I think the presumption would now be that that person was the suspect, the gunman, who who is both described as having been wounded, but also in custody. So that might have cleared up, I think, some of the initial confusion about whether there was anyone else beyond the two National Guards troops who had been hit by gunfire in the shooting.

[01:40:39] Speaker 12: OK. All right, Tom, thank you very much there, Tom Bateman. Just a short distance from the scene there of where a gunman launched what the mayor of D.C. has described as a targeted attack on two National Guard members who are on deployment here in Washington, D.C. We will be returning to that story a little bit later in our broadcast, but we are going to move on with some of the other news of today and we'll bring you more details as we get them. Russia has suggested that the war in Ukraine will end anytime soon, will not end any time soon. A Kremlin spokesperson said on Wednesday that while the ongoing diplomatic process was serious, it was premature to say that a deal between Russia and Ukraine is close.

[01:41:27] Speaker 3: you We're only two blocks away from the new restaurant. Why don't we go back and have hot coffee? Sure. Yes. Yeah, that's what I thought, but I don't know. We need to see. We need to see. OK. We're going to stay here. Hold on. I don't know. I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, but I don't do it, You're watching BBC News.

[01:45:38] Speaker 12: This is special coverage here on World News America of a dramatic and tragic incident that has happened here in Washington, DC, in the last two and a half hours, where two members of the National Guard have been shot and are in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington, DC at this time. A lone gunman carried out the attack, we're told, and that person was also injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and is in custody, but has themselves been taken to one of the area hospitals here in Washington DC for treatment. We heard in a media briefing from the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, just a few moments ago to say that the FBI would be the lead agency on this and it would be investigated in the manner of an assault on an officer. These two members of the National Guard having been attacked by a lone gunman. Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has described this as a targeted shooting, although wasn't in a position to give any further details on motive. Confirmation as well that these members of the National Guard were themselves armed. Of course, there are between 2,000 and 2,300 members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., having been deployed here during the summer at the direction of President Donald Trump to combat what he had seen as a rising crime wave here in Washington, D.C., although these statistics did not bear that out. But nevertheless, the deployment of the National Guard had been welcomed here in Washington by Mayor Muriel Bowser. She indeed spoke to the president numerous times about that and appeared at an event in the Oval Office with President Trump as well, welcoming the members of the National Guard. We've heard from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the War Secretary, that he has been speaking to the president in the aftermath of this shooting, and the president has asked him to deploy an extra 500 members of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. As I say, just over 2,000 members are already here from the National Guard. Six states sent National Guard members to the Capitol, and indeed some of the DC National Guard here as well. They've been involved in patrolling areas of the capital city around federal buildings, along the National Mall, at train stations, metro stations, and they have been also aiding in some, as the President described it, beautification of the city at various sites through the capital. Well, let's have a little listen now to some of what the FBI Director Kash Patel said just a few moments ago.

[01:48:34] Speaker 23: where two of our brave members of the National Guard and the Department of War were brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence. They were shot. They're in critical condition. As you can see behind me, we have assembled the full force of both the federal and state and local law enforcement agencies to bring bare all of our resources to make sure we find the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act. And make no mistake, they will be brought to justice. Since this is an assault on a federal law enforcement officer, this will be treated at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will lead out on that mission with our interagency partners to include the Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, ATF, DEA, and we're thankful for the mayor's assistance in this matter. The Metropolitan Police Department and their skills in investigating homicides and gun shootings in this city is exceptional. We will work together, collaboratively, because this is a matter of national security, because it's a matter of pride. Trump has been informed. We've been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington, D.C., and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.

[01:49:50] Speaker 12: So, the director of the FBI there, Kash Patel, speaking to members of the media just shortly before 5 p.m. Eastern time, describing what had happened and crucially confirming the condition of those two National Guard members as critical at this time. There had been some confusion earlier when the governor of West Virginia had posted to say they were deceased. The FBI director confirming there that they are in critical condition. The gunman, the lone suspect at this time is in custody and that individual is also in hospital being treated for their injuries. Well, let's go live to the scene there to my colleague, Tom Bateman. Tom, you were watching across that press conference as well. We're learning a little bit more about just what happened and the word being used by the law enforcement personnel we just heard from was an ambush.

[01:50:47] Speaker 11: Yeah, I think, you know, very significant in terms of the sequence of events and then the way this was described. And I think one of the most significant words there was from Muriel Bowser, the mayor, saying that this was a targeted attack, these National Guardsmen were targeted by the gunmen and her describing there and also with the police talking about the gunman having to come around the corner, raised his arm and fired at the two National Guardsmen before then other National Guard troops who were nearby managed to subdue the gunman. Now that would fit with of course what we're being told by some of the eyewitnesses that I spoke to when we first got here they said they they heard a rally of gunfire to start with two shots initially but then this pause and then more gunfire and one of the eyewitnesses that we spoke to live here on BBC News in the last hour saying that he returned to the scene almost immediately after they people have fled and run in panic came back and saw what appeared to be the gunman being subdued with several either police or National Guards on top of him, trying to subdue him. And that person, as we know now from the authorities, is being taken into custody and is also wounded. And significantly, that update there from the authorities that the two National Guards troops are described as in critical condition, and that revising some of that information that we'd heard initially from the governor of West Virginia saying that the National Guards had died. So an important update there about their condition, critically injured, and also about the nature of the attack. Nothing more clear on a motive itself, but I think very significant this is being described as a targeted attack.

[01:52:36] Speaker 12: OK. And, Tom, there was also some confusion earlier about whether any civilians were involved in this attack?

[01:52:50] Speaker 11: Yeah, well, there was no information in the briefing there to suggest that there was any bystander or civilian involved. We know that some of the eyewitnesses, including some footage that one of them had filmed, showed what appeared to be a civilian on the floor being treated by medics. But I think the presumption would now be that that person was the suspect, the gunman, who is both described as having been wounded, but also in custody. So that might have cleared up, I think, some of the initial confusion about whether there was anyone else beyond the two National Guards troops who had been hit by gunfire in the shooting.

[01:53:31] Speaker 12: OK. All right. Tom, thank you very much there, Tom Bateman. Just a short distance from the scene there of where a gunman launched what the Mayor of D.C. has described as a targeted attack on two National Guard members who are on deployment here in Washington, D.C. You're watching BBC News. This is special coverage here on World News America of a dramatic and tragic incident that has happened here in Washington DC in the last two and a half hours, where two members of the National Guard have been shot and are in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington D.C. at this time. A lone gunman carried out the attack, we're told, and that person was also injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and is in custody but has themselves been taken to one of the area hospitals here in Washington D.C. for treatment. We We heard in a media briefing from the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, just a few moments ago to say that the FBI would be the lead agency on this and it would be investigated in the manner of an assault on an officer. These two members of the National Guard having been attacked by a lone gunman, Muriel Bowser, The mayor of Washington, D.C. has described this as a targeted shooting, although wasn't in a position to give any further details on motive. Confirmation as well that these members of the National Guard were themselves armed. Of course, there are between 2,000 and 2,300 members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., having been deployed here during the summer at the direction of President Donald Trump to combat what he had seen as a rising crime wave here in Washington, D.C., although the statistics did not bear that out. But nevertheless, the deployment of the National Guard had been welcomed here in Washington by Mayor Muriel Bowser. She indeed spoke to the president numerous times about that and appeared at an event in the Oval Office with President Trump as well, welcoming the members of the National Guard. Heard from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the War Secretary, that he has been speaking to the President in the aftermath of this shooting, and the President has asked him to deploy an extra 500 members of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. As I say, just over 2,000 members are already here from the National Guard. Six states sent National Guard members to the capital, and indeed some of the D.C. National Guard here as well. They've been involved in patrolling areas of the capital city around federal buildings, along the National Mall, at train stations, metro stations. And they have been also aiding in some, as the president described it, beautification of the city at various sites through the capital. Well, let's have a little listen now to some of what the FBI Director Kash Patel said just a few moments ago.

[01:59:14] Speaker 23: We're two of our brave members of the National Guard and the Department of War were brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence. They were shot. They're in critical condition. As you can see behind me, we have assembled the full force of both the federal and state and local law enforcement agencies to bring bare all of our resources to make sure we find the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act. And make no mistake, they will be brought to justice. this is an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. This will be treated at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will lead out on that mission with our interagency partners to include the Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, ATF, DEA, and we're thankful for the mayor's assistance in this matter. The Metropolitan Police Department and their skills in investigating homicides and gun shootings in this city is exceptional. We will work together, collaboratively, because this is a matter of national security, because it's a matter of pride. President Trump has been informed. We've been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington, D.C., and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.

[02:00:30] Speaker 12: So the director of the FBI there, Kash Patel, speaking to members of the media just shortly before 5pm Eastern time, describing what had happened and crucially confirming the condition of those two National Guard members as critical at this time. There had been some confusion earlier when the governor of West Virginia had posted to say they were deceased, the FBI director confirming there that they are in critical condition. The gunman, the lone suspect at this time is in custody and that individual is also in hospital being treated for their injuries. Well, let's go live to the scene there to my colleague, Tom Bateman. Tom, you were watching across that press conference as well. We're learning a little bit more about just what happened and the word being used by the law enforcement personnel we just heard from was an ambush.

[02:01:27] Speaker 11: Yeah, I think, you know, very significant in terms of the sequence of events and then the way this was described. And I think one of the most significant words there was from Muriel Bowser, the mayor, saying that this was a targeted attack, that these National Guardsmen were targeted by the gunmen. And her describing there, and also with the police talking about the gunmen having to come around the corner, raised his arm and fired at the two National Guardsmen. Before then, other National Guard troops who were nearby managed to subdue the gunmen. Now, that would fit with, of course, what we're being told by some of the eyewitnesses that I spoke to when we first got here. They said they heard a rally of gunfire to start with two shots initially, but then this pause and then more gunfire. And one of the eyewitnesses that we spoke to live here on BBC News in the last hour saying that he returned to the scene almost immediately after people had fled and run in panic, came back and saw what appeared to be the gunman, you know, being subdued with several either police or national guards on top of him, trying to subdue him. And that person, as we know now from the authorities, is being taken into custody and is also wounded. And significantly, that update there from the authorities that the two National Guard troops are described as in critical condition, and that revising some of that information that we'd heard initially from the governor of West Virginia, saying that the National Guards had died. So, an important update there about their condition, critically injured, and also about the nature of the attack. Nothing more clear on a motive itself, but I think very significant this is being described as a targeted attack.

[02:03:17] Speaker 12: OK. And, Tom, there was also some confusion earlier about whether any civilians were involved in this attack.

[02:03:30] Speaker 11: Yeah, well, there was no information in the briefing there to suggest that there was any bystander or civilian involved. We know that some of the eyewitnesses, including some footage that one of them had filmed, showed what appeared to be a civilian on the floor being treated by medics. But I think the presumption would now be that that person was the suspect, the gunman, who is both described as having been wounded but also in custody. So that might have cleared up, I think, some of the initial confusion about whether there was anyone else beyond the two National Guards troops who had been hit by gunfire in the shooting.

[02:04:11] Speaker 12: Okay. All right, Tom, thank you very much there, Tom Bateman. Just a short distance from the scene there of where a gunman launched what the Mayor of DC has described as a targeted attack on two National Guard members who are on deployment here in Washington, DC. Two members of the National Guard are in critical condition after they were shot near the White House while on patrol. Well, I'm joined now by West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey. Thank you for being with us here on BBC News. Now, our understanding is that these two individuals are members of the West Virginia National Guard. Can you tell us anything about them?

[02:05:03] Speaker 27: Yeah, I can't as of right now. But I can tell you through extensive personal experience with our Guards members here in West Virginia that these two people were selfless American patriots. And these two folks had volunteered their time to work in Washington, D.C. over the Thanksgiving holiday to ensure that our nation's capital was safe and that it was a place where every American felt comfortable to come and do the business of our country. And I know that there are 1.8 million West Virginians and millions and millions of Americans behind us who are praying that these two brave service members are healed in a Christmas miracle, Thanksgiving miracle, excuse me.

[02:05:45] Speaker 12: Indeed, of course, at this time, as we're told by the FBI director, that they're in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington, D.C. How many West Virginia National Guard members have been deployed to the Capitol? It's one of six states that had sent National Guard's people here at the president's request.

[02:06:06] Speaker 27: Yeah, it varies, but the number is in the hundreds. And if you look at the crime statistics in Washington, D.C., since the members of the West Virginia National Guard have gone into that city, you can tell that their mission was being accomplished. You can see dramatic reductions in violent crime, dramatic reductions in retail crime. And I'm in D.C. for work a lot, and you can just tell a difference in the confidence that average Americans and people have walking around that city knowing that it's safer today than it was six months ago.

[02:06:37] Speaker 12: And as you say, you know a lot of these folks yourself personally. What has their experience been like for the kind of jobs that they've been doing here in D.C.? I mean, some have been on patrol, some have been in a stationary position, others have been helping, as the President says, beautify the city?

[02:06:56] Speaker 27: Yeah, I think to ask an American servicemember what they think of their orders is sort of an exercise in futility. Every single one of them signed up to serve the American people and to do the duties that are assigned to them by their superior officers. And so every single one of them willingly jumped up and decided and served in the way that their oath was required of them. And so we have in West Virginia the highest per capita military membership of any state in the country, which I think makes us the most patriotic state in America. And so we have more people who are willing to serve and to defend our country than any other place in this country. And for that exact reason, I know that these service members come from a long line of truly brave American patriots who happen to call the Mountain State their home.

[02:07:44] Speaker 12: And so when you hear the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bazer, saying there that the information they have is that this was a targeted attack, in other words used was ambush, how is that received for yourself and the other folks in West Virginia hearing this news given that military background that you're talking about?

[02:08:06] Speaker 27: Yeah, it's enraging. The idea that any person would target the very people who make this country the greatest country in the world is abhorrent. It's outrageous. And it's going to require many people in this country to do a lot of soul searching about why is this happening. Why are we creating individuals who harbor this kind of resentment to the very symbols and the very people that make this country the greatest country in the history of the world.

[02:08:44] Speaker 28: Two members of the National Guard have been shot in Washington close to the White House. Now the suspect is severely wounded and in custody. Sarah Smith has the very latest.

[02:08:56] Speaker 29: Police surrounded the scene as we can see someone being loaded into an ambulance. Two members of the National Guard were shot on this busy street in central Washington, just two blocks away from the White House. Both of the guardsmen are said to have been critically injured. suspected gunman was shot at the scene and is in custody in hospital. The vice president was addressing US troops in Kentucky when he got the news.

[02:09:21] Speaker 5: 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.

[02:09:36] Speaker 29: The gunman is said to have been severely wounded and there is now an extensive investigation underway. I heard two shots.

[02:09:44] Speaker 16: It's boom, boom. Then after that, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Three more came. Yes. Like a hop-off. Oh, this is big fight. Yes, it was loud.

[02:09:59] Speaker 29: The FBI chief praised the swift response from law enforcement.

[02:10:03] Speaker 23: President Trump has been informed. We have been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington DC and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.

[02:10:20] Speaker 29: 2,000 National Guard troops have been stationed in Washington for the last four months and it has just been announced an extra 500 will be deployed to the city. Sarah Smith, BBC News, Washington.

[02:10:33] Speaker 28: Tom Bateman is live there for us now. Tom just brings us up to date with the latest.

[02:10:40] Speaker 11: Well witnesses as we arrived here Clive shortly after the shooting described a scene of utter panic. Remember we're just a block from the White House here this was mid afternoon. People spoke to me about racing from the scene as they heard a burst of gunfire break out. Some people fleeing for shelter in a liquor store nearby. Now we have had an update as you heard there from Kash Patel of the FBI and other authorities in the last half an hour, they described this as a gunman coming around the corner from a metro station and, in their words, ambushing two National Guard troops in what they have described as a targeted attack. Now, of course, their investigation is in a very initial stage, but they will be taking into account the fact that the deployment of National Guard troops into American cities President Trump has been a highly contentious political move and that coming in the environment also of growing political violence in this country. But the authorities to be clear were asked about any motive and at this stage they have given no response to that question.

[02:13:46] Speaker 12: You're watching BBC News. This is special coverage here on World News America of a dramatic and tragic incident that has happened here in Washington, D.C., in the last two and a half hours, where two members of the National Guard have been shot and are in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington, D.C. at this time. A lone gunman carried out the attack, we're told, and that person was also injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and is in custody, but has themselves been taken to one of the area hospitals here in Washington, D.C., for treatment. We heard in a media briefing from the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, just a few moments ago to say that the FBI would be the lead agency on this and it would be investigated in the manner of an assault on an officer. These two members of the National Guard having been attacked by a lone gunman, Muriel Bowser, The mayor of Washington, D.C. has described this as a targeted shooting, although wasn't in a position to give any further details on motive. Confirmation as well that these members of the National Guard were themselves armed. Of course, there are between 2,000 and 2,300 members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., having been deployed here during the summer at the direction of President Donald Trump to combat what he had seen as a rising crime wave here in Washington, D.C., although the statistics did not bear that out. But nevertheless, the deployment of the National Guard had been welcomed here in Washington by Mayor Muriel Bowser. She indeed spoke to the president numerous times about that and appeared at an event in the Oval Office with President Trump as well, welcoming the members of the National Guard. Heard from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the War Secretary, that he has been speaking to the President in the aftermath of this shooting, and the President has asked him to deploy an extra 500 members of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. As I say, just over 2,000 members are already here from the National Guard. Six states sent National Guard members to the capital, and indeed some of the D.C. National Guard here as well. They've been involved in patrolling areas of the capital city around federal buildings, along the National Mall, at train stations, metro stations. And they have been also aiding in some, as the president described it, beautification of the city at various sites through the capital. Well, let's have a little listen now to some of what the FBI Director Kash Patel said just a few moments ago.

[02:16:45] Speaker 23: We're two of our brave members of the National Guard and the Department of War were brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence. They were shot. They're in critical condition. As you can see behind me, we have assembled the full force of both the federal and state and local law enforcement agencies to bring bare all of our resources to make sure we find the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act. And make no mistake, they will be brought to justice. this is an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. This will be treated at the federal level as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will lead out on that mission with our interagency partners, to include the Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, ATF, DEA. And we're thankful for the mayor's assistance in this matter, the Metropolitan Police Department and their skills in investigating homicides and gun shootings in this city is exceptional. We will work together, collaboratively, because this is a matter of national security, because it's a matter of pride. President Trump has been informed. We've been in contact with the White House. We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation's capital right here in Washington, D.C., and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.

[02:18:00] Speaker 12: So the director of the FBI there, Kash Patel, speaking to members of the media just shortly before 5 p.m. Eastern time, describing what had happened and crucially confirming the condition of those two National Guard members as critical at this time. There had been some confusion earlier when the governor of West Virginia had posted to say they were deceased, the FBI director confirming there that they are in critical condition. The gunman, the lone suspect at this time, is in custody and that individual is also in hospital being treated for their injuries. Well, let's go live to the scene there to my colleague Tom Bateman. Tom, you were watching across that press conference as well. We're learning a little bit more about just what happened and the word being used by the law enforcement personnel we just heard from was an ambush.

[02:18:57] Speaker 11: Yeah, I think, you know, very significant in terms of the sequence of events and then the way this was described. And I think one of the most significant words there was from Muriel Bowser, the mayor, saying that this was a targeted attack, that these National Guardsmen were targeted by the gunmen. And her describing there, and also with the police talking about the gunmen having to come around the corner, raised his arm and fired at the two National Guardsmen. Before then, other National Guard troops who were nearby managed to subdue the gunmen. Now, that would fit with, of course, what we're being told by some of the eyewitnesses that I spoke to when we first got here. They said they heard a rally of gunfire to start with two shots initially, but then this pause and then more gunfire. And one of the eyewitnesses that we spoke to live here on BBC News in the last hour saying that he returned to the scene almost immediately after people had fled and run in panic, came back and saw what appeared to be the gunman, you know, being subdued with several either police or national guards on top of him, trying to subdue him. And that person, as we know now from the authorities, is being taken into custody and is also wounded. And significantly, that update there from the authorities that the two National Guard troops are described as in critical condition, and that revising some of that information that we'd heard initially from the governor of West Virginia, saying that the National Guards had died. So, an important update there about their condition, critically injured, and also about the nature of the attack. Nothing more clear on a motive itself, but I think very significant this is being described as a targeted attack.

[02:20:47] Speaker 12: OK. And Tom, there was also some confusion earlier about whether any civilians were involved in this attack.

[02:21:00] Speaker 11: Yeah, well, there was no information in the briefing there to suggest that there was any bystander or civilian involved. We know that some of the eyewitnesses, including some footage that one of them had filmed, showed what appeared to be a civilian on the floor being treated by medics. But I think the presumption would now be that that person was the suspect, the gunman, who is both described as having been wounded but also in custody. So that might have cleared up, I think, some of the initial confusion about whether there was anyone else beyond the two National Guards troops who had been hit by gunfire in the shooting.

[02:21:41] Speaker 12: Okay, all right, Tom, thank you very much there, Tom Bateman. Just a short distance from the scene there of where a gunman launched what the Mayor of DC has described as a targeted attack on two National Guard members who are on deployment here in Washington, DC. Two members of the National Guard are in critical condition after they were shot near the White White House while on patrol. Well, I'm joined now by West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey. Thank you for being with us here on BBC News. Now, our understanding is that these two individuals are members of the West Virginia National Guard. Can you tell us anything about them?

[02:22:29] Speaker 27: Yeah, I can't as of right now. But I can tell you through extensive personal experience with our guards members here in West Virginia, that these two people were selfless American patriots. And these two folks had volunteered their time to work in Washington, D.C. over the Thanksgiving holiday to ensure that our nation's capital was safe and that it was a place where every American felt comfortable to come and do the business of our country. And I know that there are 1.8 million West Virginians and millions and millions of Americans behind us who are praying that these two brave service members are healed in a Christmas miracle, Thanksgiving miracle, excuse me.

[02:23:11] Speaker 12: Indeed, of course at this time, as we're told by the FBI director, that they're in a critical condition in hospital here in Washington, D.C. How many West Virginia National Guard members have been deployed to the Capitol? It's one of six states that had sent National Guard's people here at the President's request.

[02:23:32] Speaker 27: Yeah, it varies, but the number is in the hundreds. And if you look at the crime statistics in Washington, D.C., since the members of the West Virginia National Guard have gone into that city, you can tell that their mission was being accomplished. You can see dramatic reductions in violent crime, dramatic reductions in retail crime. And I'm in D.C. for work a lot, and you can just tell a difference in the confidence that average Americans and people have walking around that city knowing that it's safer today than it was six months ago.

[02:24:02] Speaker 12: And as you say, you know a lot of these folks yourself personally. What has their experience been like for the kind of jobs that they've been doing here in DC? I mean, some have been on patrol. Some have been in a stationary position. Others have been helping, as the president says, beautify the city.

[02:24:22] Speaker 27: Yeah, I think to ask an American service member what think of their orders is sort of an exercise in futility. Every single one of them signed up to serve the American people and to do the duties that are assigned to them by their superior officers. And so every single one of them willingly jumped up and decided and served in the way that their oath was required of them. And so we have in West Virginia the highest per capita military membership of any state in the country, which I think makes us the most patriotic state in America. And so we have more people who are willing to serve and to defend our country than any other place in this country. And for that exact reason, I know that these service members come from a long line of truly brave American patriots who happen to call the Mountain State their home.

[02:25:10] Speaker 12: And so when you hear the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, saying there that the information they have is that this was a targeted attack, in other words used was ambush, how Is that received for yourself and the other folks in West Virginia hearing this news given that military background that you're talking about?

[02:25:31] Speaker 27: Yeah, it's enraging. The idea that any person would target the very people who make this country the greatest country in the world is abhorrent, it's outrageous, and it's going to require many people in this country to do a lot of soul-searching about why is this happening? Why are we creating individuals who harbor this kind of resentment to the very symbols and the very people that make this country the greatest country in the history of the world.