National Guardsman Healing After Being Shot in Washington DC
A servicemember of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an ambush-style shooting last month in the US capital.
The family of the 24-year-old soldier, twenty-four, say "the injury to his head is gradually improving and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" stated West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
The soldier's relatives anticipates the Air Force staff sergeant to be in acute care for the next two to three weeks, and they feel optimistic about his progress, according to the official's statement.
Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of two West Virginia National Guard members injured by gunfire when a gunman began shooting in proximity to the White House on 26 November. His colleague, twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, succumbed to her wounds.
"We continue to ask all state residents and Americans for their prayers!" the governor said.
The governor was present at a candlelight gathering on last Friday night for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in his hometown, where the serviceman was once a pupil.
A pastor at the vigil read a statement from the soldier's parents, his family.
"It is clear to us that there is a long road to go," they wrote, as reported by local news outlet outlets.
"However our faith keeps us optimistic. We remain thankful for the well-wishes and the support from people all over the globe."
Earlier in the week, the governor said the serviceman had responded to a nurse with a positive gesture and was able to move his toes.
Police have charged the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Prior to his arrival to the US in two years ago, he was once a counterterrorism soldier in a CIA-backed unit that operated alongside American troops in the South Asian nation.
The injured airman was one of two thousand militia personnel whom President Donald Trump dispatched to the Washington DC in August as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.
Following the incident, Trump said he wanted an additional five hundred military personnel sent to the District of Columbia.
The Trump administration has also referenced the attack as a justification for additional immigration crackdown measures.
They have halted naturalization proceedings for immigrants from 19 countries that were part of a travel ban implemented over the recent season, among them the suspect's home country.