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

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

The family of Andrew Wolfe, 24, report "his head wound is slowly healing and that he's beginning to 'look more like himself,'" said the state's chief executive Patrick Morrisey.

The family expects the military non-commissioned officer to be in intensive treatment for the coming fortnight, and they feel optimistic about his recovery, said the governor.

Staff Sgt Wolfe was one of a pair of state guardsmen shot when a gunman opened fire not far from the presidential residence on November 26th. His fellow guardsmember, twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries.

"We continue to ask all West Virginians and Americans for their thoughts and prayers!" the governor said.

Morrisey was present at a vigil on Friday evening for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in his hometown, where the serviceman was once a student.

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

"We know that there is a long road to go," they wrote, as reported by regional media Metro News.

"However our faith keeps us hopeful. We remain thankful for the prayers and the encouragement from people all over the globe."

Earlier in the week, the state official said Staff Sgt Wolfe had responded to a nurse with a thumbs-up and was capable of move his toes.

Law enforcement have charged the alleged gunman, an Afghan national named the suspect, with first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill.

Prior to his arrival to the United States in two years ago, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a paramilitary group that operated alongside American troops in the South Asian nation.

The injured airman was one of 2,000 militia personnel whom the former president deployed to the nation's capitol in last summer as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.

Following the incident, the former president said he wanted an additional five hundred National Guard troops sent to the nation's capital.

The Trump administration has also cited the attack as a reason for further restrictive policies.

They have halted naturalization proceedings for foreign nationals from a list of nations that were part of a entry restriction implemented over the recent season, including Afghanistan.