| |
Shooting Suspect Felt 'Dark Isolation' 12/01 06:07
(AP) -- The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks
from the White House had been unraveling for years, unable to hold a job and
flipping between long, lightless stretches of isolation and taking sudden
weekslong cross-country drives. Rahmanullah Lakanwal's behavior deteriorated so
sharply that a community advocate reached out to a refugee organization for
help, fearing he was becoming suicidal.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press reveal mounting warnings about the
asylum-seeker whose erratic conduct raised alarms long before the attack that
jolted the nation's capital on Wednesday, the eve of Thanksgiving. The
previously unreported concerns offer the clearest picture yet of how he was
struggling in his new life in the United States.
Even so, when the community member who works with Afghan families in
Washington state saw on the news that Lakanwal was named as the suspect in the
attack, they said they were stunned, unable to square the violence with the
memory of seeing Lakanwal play with his young sons. The person spoke on the
condition of anonymity to share undisclosed details while cooperating with the
FBI in its investigation.
West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in
the shooting, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded.
Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder.
In Afghanistan, Lakanwal worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as a
Zero Unit. The units were backed by the CIA. He entered the United States in
2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled
tens of thousands of Afghans after the American withdrawal. Many had worked
alongside U.S. troops and diplomats.
As investigators work to determine a motive, Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that officials "believe he
was radicalized since he's been here in this country. We do believe it was
through connections in his home community and state and we're going to continue
to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members." She
offered no additional information to support her statement.
Lakanwal resettled with his wife and their five sons, all under the age of
12, in Bellingham, Washington, but struggled, according to the community
member, who shared emails that had been sent to the U.S. Committee for Refugees
and Immigrants, a nonprofit group that provides services to refugees.
"Rahmanullah has not been functional as a person, father and provider since
March of last year, 03/2023. He quit his job that month, and his behavior has
changed greatly," the person wrote in a January 2024 email.
The emails described a man who was struggling to assimilate, unable to hold
a steady job or commit to his English courses while he alternated between
"periods of dark isolation and reckless travel." Sometimes, he spent weeks in
his "darkened room, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife or older kids."
At one point in 2023, the family faced eviction after months of not paying rent.
The community member, in an interview, spoke of becoming worried that
Lakanwal was so depressed that he would end up harming himself. But the
community member did not see any indication that Lakanwal would commit violence
against another person.
Lakanwal's family members often resorted to sending his toddler sons into
his room to bring him the phone or messages because he would not respond to
anyone else, one email stated. A couple of times, when his wife left him with
the kids for a week to travel to visit relatives, the children would not be
bathed, their clothes would not be changed, and they would not eat well. Their
school raised concerns about the situation.
But then, there were "interim" weeks where Lakanwal would try to make amends
and "do the right things," according to the email, reengaging with the
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services as was mandated by
the terms of his entry into the U.S.
"But that has quickly evolved into 'manic' episodes for one or two weeks at
a time, where he will take off in the family car, and drive nonstop," the email
outlined. Once, he went to Chicago, and another time, to Arizona.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, said this past
week that Lakanwal drove across the country from Bellingham, which is about 80
miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle, to the nation's capital.
In response to the two emails, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and
Immigrants or USCRI, visited Bellingham a few weeks later in March 2024 and
attempted to make contact with Lakanwal and his family, according to the
community member, who, after not receiving any updates, was left with the
impression that Lakanwal refused their assistance.
A request for comment and clarification from USCRI was not immediately
returned.
|
|
