Air Force Staff Sergeant Healing After Being Shot in Washington DC
A member of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was gravely wounded 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,'" said the state's chief executive Patrick Morrisey.
The family anticipates the Air Force staff sergeant to be in acute care for the next two to three weeks, and they feel hopeful about his progress, according to the official's statement.
The serviceman was one of a pair of state guardsmen injured by gunfire when a shooter began shooting in proximity to the presidential residence on November 26th. His colleague, 20-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.
"We continue to ask all state residents and the nation's citizens for their thoughts and prayers!" Morrisey declared.
Morrisey was present at a vigil on Friday evening for Staff Sgt Wolfe at a local secondary school in his hometown, where the serviceman was once a pupil.
A pastor at the vigil shared a message from the soldier's parents, his family.
"We know that there is a long road to go," they wrote, according to regional media outlets.
"But our faith keeps us hopeful. We remain grateful for the well-wishes and the encouragement from people all over the world."
Earlier in the week, the state official said Staff Sgt Wolfe had responded to a nurse with a thumbs-up and was capable of wiggle his feet.
Law enforcement have formally accused the alleged gunman, an individual from Afghanistan named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Prior to his arrival to the United States in two years ago, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a paramilitary group that worked with US forces in the South Asian nation.
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 urban centers.
Following the incident, Trump said he desired another 500 National Guard troops deployed to the District of Columbia.
The Trump administration has also referenced the shooting as a reason for additional restrictive policies.
They have halted naturalization proceedings for immigrants from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction announced over the recent season, among them Afghanistan.
