Air Force Staff Sergeant Healing After Being Shot in Washington DC

A member of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an targeted attack last month in Washington DC.

The family of the 24-year-old soldier, 24, report "his head wound is slowly healing and that he's starting to 'regain his familiar appearance,'" said West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.

The soldier's relatives anticipates the military non-commissioned officer 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 state guardsmen shot when a gunman opened fire not far from the White House on 26 November. His colleague, 20-year-old his counterpart, died from her injuries.

"We continue to ask all West Virginians and the nation's citizens for their thoughts and prayers!" Morrisey declared.

The governor attended a vigil on Friday evening for Staff Sgt Wolfe at Musselman High School in Inwood, West Virginia, where the guardsman was once a pupil.

A clergyman at the event read a message from the soldier's parents, Jason and Melody Wolfe.

"It is clear to us that there is a difficult journey to go," they expressed, as reported by regional media outlets.

"However our belief keeps us hopeful. We remain grateful for the prayers and the support from people all over the world."

Previously, the governor said the serviceman had responded to a nurse with a positive gesture and was able to wiggle his feet.

Law enforcement have formally accused the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with premeditated homicide and assault with intent to kill.

Before coming to the US in 2021, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a paramilitary group that worked with American troops in Afghanistan.

The injured airman was one of 2,000 National Guard members whom the former president dispatched to the Washington DC in last summer as part of his immigration and crime-related crackdown in urban centers.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the former president said he desired an additional five hundred military personnel sent to the District of Columbia.

The former presidential office has also cited the shooting as a reason for further restrictive policies.

They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from 19 countries that were part of a entry restriction announced over the summer, among them the suspect's home country.