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

A member of the Air National Guard is on the mend after he was critically injured in an ambush-style shooting last month in the US capital.

The parents of the 24-year-old soldier, twenty-four, report "the injury to his head is slowly healing and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" stated West Virginia Governor the governor.

The soldier's relatives anticipates the Air Force staff sergeant to be in intensive treatment for the next two to three weeks, and they feel optimistic about his progress, according to the official's statement.

The serviceman was one of a pair of state guardsmen shot when a gunman began shooting not far from the presidential residence on 26 November. His fellow guardsmember, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries.

"We continue to ask all state residents and Americans for their thoughts and prayers!" Morrisey declared.

The governor attended a candlelight gathering on Friday evening for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in Inwood, West Virginia, where the serviceman was once a student.

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

"It is clear to us that there is a difficult journey to go," they wrote, as reported by local news outlet outlets.

"But our belief keeps us optimistic. We remain thankful for the well-wishes and the support from people all over the world."

Earlier in the week, the governor said the serviceman had responded to a nurse with a thumbs-up and was able to wiggle his feet.

Police have formally accused the alleged gunman, an individual from Afghanistan named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Before coming 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 National Guard members whom President Donald Trump deployed to the nation's capitol in August as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.

Following the shooting, the former president said he wanted another 500 military personnel sent to the nation's capital.

The former presidential office has also cited the attack as a reason for additional restrictive policies.

They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for foreign nationals from 19 countries that were part of a travel ban announced over the recent season, including Afghanistan.