A file image of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who is the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Afghan man accused of gunning down two National Guard members blocks from the White House last week had been unravelling for years, unable to hold a job and flipping between long, lightless stretches of isolation and taking sudden weeks-long cross-country drives. His behaviour deteriorated so sharply that a community advocate reached out to a refugee organisation for help, fearing he was becoming suicidal.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press reveal mounting warnings about the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an asylum seeker whose erratic conduct raised alarms long before the attack that jolted the nation’s capital on 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 National Guard shooting, 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, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were critically wounded in what officials described as an ambush attack on Wednesday (November 26, 2025) afternoon, and Beckstrom died from her injuries the next day. Investigators are still working to establish a motive for the attack.

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 U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats.

He 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 behaviour 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 said in an interview that they became worried that Lakanwal was so depressed that he would end up harming himself, but they did not see any indication that he 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, re-engaging 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 Washington, D.C., said this past week that Lakanwal drove across the country from Bellingham, about 80 miles (130 kilometres) north of Seattle, to the nation’s capital to execute his attack.

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 he refused their assistance.

A request for comment and clarification from USCRI was not immediately returned.

Published – November 30, 2025 10:58 pm IST

The United States is freezing all asylum decisions, officials said Friday (November 28, 2025), as President Donald Trump hardens his anti-migrant stance after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members this week in Washington.

Wednesday’s (November 26, 2025) attack on the soldiers — one of whom died from her injuries — has ignited a fresh crackdown on foreigners in the United States, with Mr. Trump also pledging to suspend migration from “third world countries.”

Joseph Edlow, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said his agency has “halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

That followed Mr. Trump’s announcement late Thursday (November 27, 2025) of plans to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.”

Asked which nationalities would be affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — already facing U.S. travel restrictions since June.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday (November 28, 2025) that the U.S. had temporarily stopped issuing visas to all individuals traveling on Afghan passports.

“The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people,” he said.

‘Monster’

The shooting has brought together three politically explosive issues: Mr. Trump’s controversial use of the military on American soil, immigration, and the lingering legacy of the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who allegedly opened fire on the guardsmen just a few blocks from the White House, had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He entered the United States as part of a resettlement program following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington DC, said Friday (November 28, 2025) that Lakanwal would be charged with murder over the attack.

Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed in the US capital as part of what Mr. Trump called a crackdown on crime, died from her wounds.

The second injured soldier, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was “fighting for his life,” Ms. Pirro told the Fox News program Fox & Friends.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has pledged to seek the death penalty against Lakanwal, describing him as a “monster.”

‘Long planned’

In his social media post Thursday (November 27, 2025), Mr. Trump also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, in a new escalation of his anti-immigration stance.

Separately, the USCIS said it would re-examine the green cards — permanent residency cards — issued to individuals who had migrated to the U.S. from the same 19 countries also cited by the Department of Homeland Security.

More than 1.6 million green card holders, roughly 12% of the total permanent resident population, were born in the countries listed, according to U.S. immigration data analysed by AFP.

Afghanistan has over 116,000 green card holders.

Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the country after the military withdrawal, blasted Mr. Rubio’s move to halt all visa issuances.

“They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned,” he said in a statement.

Lakanwal had been living in the western state of Washington with his family and drove across the country to the capital before Wednesday’s (November 26, 2025) shooting, officials said.

Mr. Trump has insisted that Lakanwal had been granted unvetted access to the United States because of lax asylum policies after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under former President Biden.

However, AfghanEvac said the Afghans had undergone “some of the most extensive security vetting” of any migrants. It added that Lakanwal applied for asylum under Mr. Biden but received it later, under Mr. Trump.

Published – November 29, 2025 09:10 am IST

National Guard members stand together behind yellow tape, after two fo their members were shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. on November 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters