Wounded Guardsman Gives Thumbs Up, Wiggles Toes

As investigators continue to probe what motivated a man to gun down two West Virginia National Guard members, killing one just blocks from the White House, officials said on Monday that the victim who survived the attack was making positive progress.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old married father of five from Bellingham, Washington, allegedly drove cross-country to commit the Thanksgiving eve shooting in the heart of the nation’s capital, officials said.

Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, members of the West Virginia National Guard were "ambushed" while conducting "high visibility patrols" at the time of the attack, according to law enforcement officials. The 20-year-old Beckstrom was killed while the 24-year-old Wolfe was critically injured, authorities said.

During a news conference on Monday afternoon, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Wolfe is in serious condition and is "fighting for his life."

Morrisey revealed "some positive news" about Wolfe's condition, saying that when a nurse asked him to give a thumbs up if he could hear, "he did respond."

"We were told that he also wiggled his toes," Morrisey said. "So, we take that as a positive sign."

Passing on a message from Wolfe's mother, Melody, Morrisey said, "She's been asking people across the country to pray for her son and those prayers are working."

Morrisey said that over the weekend, he attended several vigils in West Virginia for the National Guard Members who were attacked.

"People were talking so eloquently about Sarah, who by all accounts is an amazing woman who lifted up people around her with a smile," Morrisey said. "And from talking to Sarah’s parents and people in the unit, everyone had nothing but incredible things to say about Sarah."

The suspected gunman is facing one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. It is unclear when those charges will be unsealed.

"There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree," Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Friday on "Fox & Friends."

Lakanwal, who was shot by a National Guard member who responded to the shooting, remained hospitalized on Monday, officials said.