Shooting reported near White House

[Mauig’ma]

Mental health is an important topic. It may be a factor for this former upstanding US employee, who may have experienced difficulty coping after he was isolated from colleagues and community in Bellingham ... and facing no future beyond handling soiled hospital sheets.

Did he live with daily fear that ICE would grab him off the street, throw him in prison, and hand him over to the Taliban?

Why didn't his children have beds? That suggests mental health issues.

If he’s legally here why would he have anything to worry about? Imo

 

[Dotta]

"DC shooting suspect ​

'suffered mental issues' ​

from fighting in CIA-backed 'Zero Unit'​

during war in Afghanistan."​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1994190366782672917

 

[airportwoman]

The suspect arrived in the US in 2021 with his wife and five children. The family was granted asylum in April 2025. I too am curious whether the US can withdraw that asylum status and send his family back to live under Taliban rule. Is his family victims of tragedy, or will they be punished for his actions?

According to his family, he started working for US commandos at age 15. He worked with the CIA until age 25, when he and his family arrived in the US.

What happened next? Did he have a job? Was he allowed to work? What happened between 2021, when he arrived, and now, when he is really angry?

"The Associated Press spoke with the suspect's former landlord, who said he moved to the city of Bellingham in the far northwest of the US in 2021. He had his wife and five children with him."

VS schort asielverzoeken Afghanen op na aanslag op Garde in Washington

Voor de aanslag zit een Afghaanse immigrant vast. Twee gardisten raakten ernstig gewond.

nos.nl

He already had 5 kids at the age of 25?

I know nothing justifies any of this, but that's a big stressor right there.

RIP Sarah Beckstrom.

 

[airportwoman]

He might have lied about his age for food and some sence of safety. IMO

I was thinking the same thing myself.

 

[airportwoman]

29 and his oldest is 14.
No beds, just couch cushions for sleeping.
Sat around playing a violent video game in his $2,000 a month apartment.

No mention of any kind of job or how he was providing for his family.

Some or all of the kids may also have been stepchildren. Does anyone know how old his wife is?

 

[Snoopster]

If he’s legally here why would he have anything to worry about? Imo

Well there have been many recent cases of people being legally in the US being grabbed by ICE and/or border security, particularly if they look a certain way.

I'm not saying that this guy was worried about that, because we don't know. And I'm certainly not saying that this guy had any rational justification for ambushing these two National Guard members, who were just doing their job! But the 'being in the US legally' isn't as safe as it used to be. JMO.

 

[acutename]

my list of recent possibilities:

PSTD
5 young children
recent loss of something: job, home, car?
life crisis where he asks "why am I in the US?" but he cannot go back to Afghanistan either...
maybe misses parents, other relatives, feels trapped

all IMO and no, I do not think randomly shooting National Guard members solved anything : (

 

[justtrish]

I haven't read anything that states he enlisted in the Afghan army. I have only read that he worked with the US CIA and alongside US commandos for 10 years.

Is there a US news outlet reporting that he served with the Afghan army?

"CIA Director Ratcliffe told Fox News that Rahmanullah Lakanwal worked with the Americans in Kandahar, including through his intelligence agency."

same link as above

D.C. National Guard shooting suspect identified as Afghan national who had worked with CIA. Here's what we know.

A CIA spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the suspect worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, during the war in Afghanistan.

CBS News has also learned that the suspect led a team in the former Afghan national armed forces that worked directly with U.S. and British forces.

According to a former Afghan commando who spoke with CBS News on Thursday, Lakanwal led a unit of Afghan special forces in the south of the country and worked closely with the international troops.


Edited to add @otto I might be assuming so if this isn't correct then I apologize. Is Afghan National forces what they call their Army? I may just not have used the right term for their military. I think of special forces as Army because that is what they are here in the US, but maybe this isn't the same as our military?

 

[Chimera]

Rest in peace, Sarah Beckstrom.
My utmost condolences to her loved ones.
Nothing excuses what her murderer did.
Omo.

 

[Sundog]

Dad of National Guard solider shot in DC says she will not survive

Sarah Beckstrom's dad Gary Beckstrom provided the heartbreaking update on Thursday, just one day after his daughter was shot in Washington D.C.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I hadn't seen this information reported before in MSM:

A motive for the shooting has not been released by law enforcement, but the FBI led by Director Kash Patel is investigating whether the attack could have links to international terror.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's notes during a Thursday briefing mentioned the suspected shooter yelled 'allahu akbar' before the attack.

 

[Sundog]

Maybe nothing went "wrong"? Perhaps the attack was purely a personal choice made by the shooter- and he alone is to blame?

Well said.

 

[knla]

Lakanwal applied for asylum with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2024 and his application was granted in 2025, the DHS official said. But his request for a green card, which is tied to the asylum grant, is pending.

D.C. National Guard shooting suspect identified as Afghan national who had worked with CIA. Here's what we know.

A 29-year-old Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been identified as the suspected shooter in the ambush that killed one National Guard member and wounded another in D.C., officials say.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Sundog]

29 and his oldest is 14.
No beds, just couch cushions for sleeping.
Sat around playing a violent video game in his $2,000 a month apartment.

No mention of any kind of job or how he was providing for his family.

I wonder who was paying the rent, and where the money came from. Were we, the taxpayers, paying his rent while he sat around playing video games? Or was his wife working to pay the rent while he played video games?

 

[Charlot123]

.

Is there any evidence that RL was being prevented from working at his ability?

On report states that he spoke limited English. If so, his translator status might not be fully accurate. Likewise, his immediate job prospects may of been limited. Even still, there could be many immigrants working in hospital laundries. I would not place the work as inherently below RL.

It was not the job, JMO, it is how much he was paid, a young man, working for the US forces as opposed to regular Afghani peasants. I guess, a lot. And his English was not even good enough to live on it here. But, it is quite possible that he expected his job back home to be forever. And then, the troops and he were evacuated.

I think he felt unimportant, underpaid, overwhelmed in the US, with a large family and maybe too lazy to work in a laundry? Who could survive like this, work the lowest paid jobs to send their kids to the best schools? These would be the Asians (I saw Koreans doing it), but he is from a different culture. We don’t know how supported he was in his own community (perhaps he looked or behaved odd?).

Being an immigrant, I know that the life in the US is very straightforward and the rules are well-known, too. Everyone is expected to work. The main question is, English/no English. If English, then, plans, classes, exams, job. But, having own community or para-community are both very important because you look at the most successful peers and follow them. This is how everyone starts.

Honestly, I think Bellingham would be a very inconvenient place for everyone. I like their University, it takes good care of students and is getting better year by year. Outside of it, OMG…Cold + one definitely needs a car, likely, two for a family of six. Plus, “Seattle freeze” (and yes, people are friendly, but it definitely exists).

Communities live together and survive better in urban areas.

Then, the Mosque. I asked it, assuming that his family, like 80% Afghani, is Sunni, but his family could be Shia. Afghani are a tribal society, maybe he did not fit in with the majority? Even his mother tongue we would not know, could be Farsi (Dari), could be Pashto or something else.

And then, the mental illness. Was it a true condition for which he ought to have received help, or was it something he chose to self-medicate?

 

[Charlot123]

He and the family were housed by a Bellingham couple, who at some point started a for them. In an update made by the couple, "the kids were in public school, all were learning english and RL had a job at a local hospital working in the laundry". This was in January 2023.

ETA: The mad face is for that thing that starts with a G and has 3 letters.

Logical question, did his family get the money? Did they even know about “the three letters”?

 

[musicaljoke]

Maybe nothing went "wrong"? Perhaps the attack was purely a personal choice made by the shooter- and he alone is to blame?

In regards to language, job training and placement, they make perfect sense in theory. But, then factor in that millions of migrants entered the United States in the open border period. Then add a very large number of legal immigrants such as the individual in question.

Alot of these people could likely from the various programs that you described. Given the sheer numbers, however, I don't know how much assistance in the practical sense can be given to individuals and individual families.

Possibly, but I think that risking his life in Afghanistan in order to aid the Americans speaks of a strong commitment to a life of peace.

I suspect that he has been hated by people in Afghanistan and by Americans alike.

 

[Sundog]

He probably wasn't and I fully agree with you that loss of status can cause stress (please see my post 118 where I supported another poster who made that assertion).

Then again, there could be millions of people in this country who have had to take lower status jobs after lay offs. Heck, I am one of them- there might be others like me out there.

Likewise, there might be a lot of immigrants working jobs under conditions that they don't like for various reasons- including loss of status.

Though stressors can be identified, the existence of the same stressors faced by millions are not a mitigating factor. Nor is there a solution to those stressors. In the end, RL made a personal decision to attack other people.

Professionals from countries all over the world who come to live in the U.S. often have to take "lower status' employment as they build their new lives here. Doctors, professors, teachers, etc. It sounds like this guy thought he was entitled to a better life here, rather than make a better life for himself given the opportunity.

 

[Sundog]

Mental health is an important topic. It may be a factor forWel this former upstanding US employee, who may have experienced difficulty coping after he was isolated from colleagues and community in Bellingham ... and facing no future beyond handling soiled hospital sheets.

Did he live with daily fear that ICE would grab him off the street, throw him in prison, and hand him over to the Taliban?

Why didn't his children have beds? That suggests mental health issues.

Ipads aren't cheap, nor are the other electronic devices seized by the FBI at his apartment. No money left over for beds for the children, I guess.

 

[Sundog]

"DC shooting suspect ​

'suffered mental issues' ​

from fighting in CIA-backed 'Zero Unit'​

​

So did they miss this in the vetting process and let him into the U.S. anyway?

 

[Charlot123]

This man has been the responsibility of the CIA and US commandos for half of his life. He started working for the US at age 15, and he's now 29 years of age.

I personally believe that, if Canada had a similar situation, Canadians would ask what went wrong, what was missed. I don't think the response would be "kill that Afghan terrorist."

Canada, US or Europe, there has to be a good root-cause analysis because we need to prevent violence. He may be “an Afghan terrorist”, he may be “an ex-military with common problems, self-medicating (easy in WA) and getting bonkers”, sorry. He may be “the case of arrested development, a 15-year old in the body of a 29-year old”, or nothing of this.

Anyhow, a very nice young woman lost her life to his unexplained actions, and another man is fighting for his life, they are innocent people on the receiving end, so why? needs to be answered.

After each major war ended, people came in here, and they adjusted. Remember the term “boat people”? And look how well their kids are doing. Were they of a different mentality? Highly likely. Was something done differently with their settlement? Possibly. But also, what do we know of the Afghan mentality? Me, nothing. I meet a lot of them in NYC, and most Americanize seemingly well. Have good sense of humor. But for young men moving to another country, language, job, plan for the future, community are important. (I am mentioning men because I see most Afghani wife staying at home, but this, too, may change).

So I agree…RIP, Sarah Beckstrom. Best wishes to Andrew Wolfe. Let us get decent answers.