National Guardsman Recovering After Being Shot in the Nation's Capital

A servicemember of the Air National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an targeted attack last month in the US capital.

The family of Andrew Wolfe, 24, say "his head wound is gradually improving and that he's beginning to 'look more like himself,'" stated the state's chief executive Patrick Morrisey.

The family expects the Air Force staff sergeant to be in intensive treatment for the next two to three weeks, and they feel optimistic about his progress, said the governor.

Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of a pair of West Virginia National Guard members injured by gunfire when a gunman opened fire in proximity to the White House on 26 November. His colleague, twenty-year-old his counterpart, died from her injuries.

"Our request remains for all state residents and Americans for their prayers!" Morrisey declared.

Morrisey attended a candlelight gathering on last Friday night for Staff Sgt Wolfe at a local secondary school in Inwood, West Virginia, where the guardsman was once a pupil.

A clergyman at the event shared a message from the guardsman's mother and father, his family.

"It is clear to us that there is a long road to go," they wrote, according to local news outlet Metro News.

"However our faith keeps us optimistic. We remain thankful for the prayers and the encouragement from people all over the globe."

Previously, the state official said the serviceman had acknowledged medical staff with a positive gesture and was able to move his toes.

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

Before coming to the United States in two years ago, he was once a counterterrorism soldier in a paramilitary group that operated alongside US forces in Afghanistan.

The injured airman was one of 2,000 National Guard members whom President Donald Trump deployed to the nation's capitol in August as part of his immigration and crime-related crackdown in urban centers.

Following the incident, the former president said he wanted another 500 military personnel deployed to the District of Columbia.

The Trump administration has also cited the attack as a justification for additional immigration crackdown measures.

They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for foreign nationals from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction implemented over the recent season, among them Afghanistan.