Mental health of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is charged with murder, had reportedly been unravelling for years
The suspect in the shooting of two West Virginia national guard soldiers in Washington DC on the eve of Thanksgiving had been struggling with his mental health, sometimes spending “weeks on end” in isolation, as he struggled to assimilate in the years since arriving in the United States, it has emerged.
According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s mental health had been unravelling for years, leaving him unable to hold a job and flipping between long, dark stretches of isolation and taking sudden weeks-long cross-country drives.
The emails reveal mounting warnings about Lakanwal, whose erratic conduct raised alarms long before last week’s attack. His behavior deteriorated so sharply that a community advocate reached out to a refugee organization for help, fearing he was becoming suicidal. They did not, however, see any indication that Lakanwal would commit violence against another person.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in the shooting, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder. He was shot by another national guard member during the incident and is also hospitalized.
