Afghan suspect in D.C. National Guard attack appeared to suffer personal crisis : NPR

When Rahmanullah Lakanwal arrived in the United States from Afghanistan, he seemed alive and hopeful, but over time he became isolated and prone to traveling cross-country without telling his family, according to a volunteer who worked closely with his family.

Lakanwal, an Afghan national, is accused of killing two National Guard soldiers on November 26. One of those soldiers, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died from her wounds. On Monday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey described another guard, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, is in “serious” condition.

“What bothered me most was that [Lakanwal] will harm himself,” a refugee resettlement volunteer told NPR. “I was afraid he was suicidal because he was so withdrawn.”

The volunteer spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because they said they fear for their safety, as well as the safety of others in their volunteer community, due to possible retaliation for working with Afghan refugees, including the Lakanwals.

They said that when they first met Lakanwal in 2022 at his home in Bellingham, Washington, he seemed encouraging and outgoing. “He was outside with his children, laughing, playing and chatting animatedly with other Afghans,” they said.

Lakanwal worked and held meetings at his home for a while, but by 2023, he began to isolate himself and found himself “overwhelmed” by the challenges of finding steady work and adjusting to life in the United States, the volunteer said.

A volunteer shared with NPR emails sent in January 2024 that raised concerns about Lakanwala's well-being. This was first reported by the Associated Press. contents of letters on Saturday.

“He spends most of his time in his darkened bedroom, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife and older children,” one email said. “I personally think that [Mr. Lakanwal] suffers from both PTSD and his work with the US military in Afghanistan,” the volunteer wrote, adding that they “are not medical professionals.”

Speaking on NBC Meet the press On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said U.S. officials believe Lakanwal was “radicalized” while living in the United States.

“We believe this was due to connections in his home community and state, and we are going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him,” Noem said.

But a volunteer who worked with Lakanwal and other Afghan refugees in Washington state told NPR they don't see any signs of radicalization. Instead, they described a man who seemed to be experiencing a deepening personal crisis, complicated by Lacanwal's poor command of the English language and deepening cultural isolation. The volunteer said there were no organized resources for refugees beyond their initial intake.

“In my mind, the families were just abandoned in society,” the volunteer said.

Before coming to the United States in 2021, Lakanwal served in one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit organization that supports Afghan refugees and is run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan. According to AfghanEvac, Lakanwala's unit was run by the CIA with direct US intelligence and military support and fought the Taliban on behalf of the US government.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement last week that the shooter in the attack was cleared into the US “due to his previous work with the US government, including the CIA.”

The volunteer told NPR they had no detailed knowledge of Lakanwala's military duties and had never seen him express hostility toward the United States. They said his increasingly erratic behavior never suggested any threat or danger.

“I was so shocked that this happened. I asked myself, “Were there any warning signs?” No,” said the volunteer.

While the volunteer was unable to provide insight into a possible motive for Lakanwala's alleged attack, they knew he had been making long trips like the one that brought him to Washington, D.C., last week. Starting in 2023, Lacanwal will disappear for weeks at a time in the family car, traveling as far as Arizona and Illinois.

“He drives around day and night and sends pins on the map to one of the volunteer sponsors, and we can take photos from Instagram stories, but no other communication. His family usually does not know where he is or when he will return,” said one email from a group of volunteers written in January 2024.

The emails provided to NPR also indicate that volunteers in Washington state tried to contact professional refugee aid groups, including World Relief and the United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), hoping to find help for Lakanwala's deteriorating mental state, but received limited response.

“Group of Stakeholders [volunteering on refugee resettlement] There was a meeting in the Seattle area in January 2024 to discuss the issue of dwindling resources for these families, and frustration was expressed,” a volunteer told NPR.

NPR has reached out to World Relief and USCRI for comment. USCRI did not respond. World Relief sent a statement declining to say whether the organization had any role in bringing Lakanwala to the United States.

“We cannot confirm whether we served any specific client without the permission of our federal government partners who managed the process of bringing Afghans to the United States beginning in 2021,” World Relief said in a statement.

The group added that it “provided services to those who [refugees] assigned to us by our government partners,” and stated that he supports law enforcement agencies in the investigation of the Lakanwala case.

Following last week's violence, the Trump administration decided to freeze refugee cases involving Afghan nationals and began screening refugees and migrants from more than a dozen countries living legally in the United States. Activists working with Afghan asylum seekers told NPR they view Lakanwala's alleged abuse as an isolated incident.

“It’s impossible to paint this entire community with a broad brush. The vast majority of Afghans who come here are just good citizens,” said Sean VanDiver, a Navy veteran who heads the AfghanEvac group.