Washington DC - Two US National Guard soldiers were critically wounded on Wednesday in a targeted shooting near the White House, an extraordinary security incident fueling controversy over Donald Trump's nationwide crime crackdown. Now new details about the man in custody have been revealed.

According to multiple media outlets, the alleged shooter was an Afghan national who had entered the US in 2021, but US authorities had yet to publicly identify and name the suspect.

If confirmed, it would mean a series of painful political issues intertwining in one bloody incident on the streets of the capital – Trump's use of the military at home, immigration, and the legacy of the disastrous US war in Afghanistan.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called it "a targeted shooting" by a single assailant.

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"That individual has been taken into custody," she said.

CBS News reported that law enforcement officials told the network the suspect was a 29-year-old who used a handgun to carry out the attack, while sources told NBC News the shooting was being investigated as a possible act of terrorism.

Both soldiers – part of a militarized anti-crime deployment around the US ordered by Trump – were in "critical condition," FBI Director Kash Patel said.