Air Force Staff Sergeant Healing Following Sustaining Gunshot Wounds in the Nation's Capital
A member of the Air National Guard is on the mend after he was gravely wounded in an ambush-style shooting last month in Washington DC.
The family of Andrew Wolfe, twenty-four, say "the injury to his head is gradually improving and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" said West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
The soldier's relatives expects the military non-commissioned officer to be in acute care for the coming fortnight, and they feel optimistic about his progress, according to the official's statement.
Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of a pair of West Virginia National Guard members shot when a gunman opened fire not far from the White House on November 26th. His fellow guardsmember, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, succumbed to her wounds.
"We continue to ask all West Virginians and Americans for their thoughts and prayers!" the governor said.
The governor attended a candlelight gathering on Friday evening for the injured soldier at Musselman High School in his hometown, where the guardsman was once a pupil.
A pastor at the vigil shared a statement from the soldier's parents, his family.
"It is clear to us that there is a long road to go," they expressed, according to local news outlet outlets.
"However our belief keeps us hopeful. We remain thankful for the prayers and the encouragement 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 capable of move his toes.
Police have charged the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill.
Before coming to the US in two years ago, he was once a counterterrorism soldier in a paramilitary group that operated alongside US forces in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of two thousand militia personnel whom President Donald Trump dispatched to the nation's capitol in August as part of his immigration and crime-related crackdown in Democratic-led cities.
Following the incident, the former president said he desired another 500 National Guard troops deployed to the nation's capital.
The former presidential office has also cited the shooting as a reason for further immigration crackdown measures.
They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction announced over the summer, including Afghanistan.
