WASHINGTON — A pair of National Guardsmen who were shot just blocks from the White House are in critical condition, while a lone gunman has been taken into custody, officials said Wednesday.

The soldiers were on a “high visibility” patrol when the suspect rounded a corner, raised a firearm and “ambushed,” them, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police. Other Guard members intervened and the suspect was shot, wrestled to the ground and detained.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the incident a “targeted shooting.” President Donald Trump, who was in Florida, said the suspect would “pay a very steep price” and ordered an additional 500 troops deployed to the nation’s capital.

While officials stressed that their investigation was just beginning and that the motives of the suspect — who was receiving medical care at a local hospital — remained unknown, the violence was certain to reignite debate over Trump’s deployment of federal troops in cities across the country.

The president deployed more than 2,000 National Guard members on the streets of Washington in August, saying they were needed to support federal and District of Columbia law enforcement. But the move proved unpopular with residents of the city, and a federal judge recently ruled that the deployment was likely illegal — though guardsmen were not required to leave the District immediately to allow time for appeal.

The shooting occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. local time, near the entrance to the Farragut West Metro station. There was no initial indication the perpetrator had been riding the Metro, which continued to operate.

Following the shooting, other members of the National Guard in the area and members of law enforcement were “able to assist and bring that individual into custody,” Metropolitan Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said. The suspect was also shot, he added, saying that at this time there were no other suspects.

“They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect after he had been shot on the ground until law enforcement got there,” Carroll said.

Nearby streets were swiftly blocked off with yellow tape as offices emptied before the Thanksgiving holiday.

D.C. Police and federal law enforcement will work together to investigate the shooting and possible motives. There is currently no indication that there are additional suspects, Carroll added.

Police did not release the name of the National Guard members or the suspect. Earlier, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said the victims were from his state and had died, only to subsequently retract that statement citing “conflicting reports.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth described the attack as a “cowardly, dastardly act” targeting the guardsmen. He said Trump had told him to deploy the additional troops to D.C. and that he would move promptly to do so.

“We will never back down,” Hegseth said. “We will secure our capital.”

Emergency vehicles crowded the streets around the site of the shooting, and nearby government buildings including the White House and Treasury Department were initially put on lockdown.

Speaking from an event in Kentucky, Vice President JD Vance said, “We still don’t know the motive. There’s a lot that we haven’t yet figured out.”

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