National Guardsman Recovering After Sustaining Gunshot Wounds in Washington DC

A member of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was critically injured in an ambush-style shooting last month in Washington DC.

The parents of the 24-year-old soldier, twenty-four, say "his head wound is slowly healing and that he's starting to 'look more like himself,'" said West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.

The soldier's relatives anticipates the military non-commissioned officer to be in acute care for the next two to three weeks, and they feel hopeful about his recovery, according to the official's statement.

The serviceman was one of two West Virginia National Guard members injured by gunfire when a shooter opened fire not far from the presidential residence on 26 November. His fellow guardsmember, twenty-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.

"We continue to ask all state residents and Americans for their prayers!" the governor said.

Morrisey attended a vigil on Friday evening for Staff Sgt Wolfe at Musselman High School in his hometown, where the guardsman was once a student.

A pastor at the event read a message from the soldier's parents, Jason and Melody Wolfe.

"It is clear to us that there is a difficult journey to go," they wrote, according to regional media outlets.

"But our belief keeps us hopeful. We remain thankful for the prayers and the support from people all over the world."

Previously, the governor said the serviceman had acknowledged medical staff with a thumbs-up and was capable of wiggle his feet.

Law enforcement have charged the alleged gunman, an individual from Afghanistan named the suspect, with premeditated homicide and attempted murder.

Prior to his arrival to the US in two years ago, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a CIA-backed unit that worked with American troops in Afghanistan.

The injured airman was one of 2,000 National Guard members whom the former president deployed to the Washington DC in August as part of his immigration and crime-related crackdown in urban centers.

Following the shooting, the former president said he wanted another 500 military personnel deployed to the District of Columbia.

The Trump administration has also cited the attack as a reason for further immigration crackdown measures.

They have halted naturalization proceedings for immigrants from a list of nations that were part of a travel ban announced over the recent season, including Afghanistan.