Childhood Friend of Accused National Guard Shooter Says Suspect Suffered From Mental Health Issues After Work in Afghanistan
Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via AP
A childhood friend of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man suspected of shooting two National Guard troops — one fatally — in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, said the Afghan national struggled with his mental health and was disturbed by his previous work in the military.
Lankanawal, who was brought into the United States as part of President Joe Biden’s Operation: Allies Welcome refugee program in September 2021. He applied for asylum in 2024, and his application was reportedly approved earlier this year.
Prior to his arrival in the U.S., a young Lankanawal allegedly enlisted with an Afghan paramilitary force that worked with Americans. Dubbed “Zero Units,” these forces were formally part of the Afghan intelligence service but overseen and operated by the CIA.
The units worked outside the usual chain of command and conducted night raids and clandestine operations, per a report from The New York Times.
Described as “death squads” by Taliban officials and human rights groups, Human Rights Watch has claimed it documented instances in which the units were responsible for “extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, indiscriminate airstrikes, attacks on medical facilities, and other violations of international humanitarian law.”
The CIA has denied these allegations.
A childhood friend of Lankanwal, who spoke to The Times using only the name Muhammad due to fear of Taliban reprisals, said that Lankanwal was troubled by the death toll his unit had caused. He added that his friend had suffered mental health issues.
“He would tell me and our friends that their military operations were very tough, their job was very difficult, and they were under a lot of pressure,” Muhammad said.
Zero Units were a fundamental part of the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, with some responsible for securing the Kabul airport along with U.S. and NATO bases. It was this work that allowed Lakanwal to enter the U.S. under the Biden program.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed this in a statement Thursday, writing that “the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.”
Lankanawal is currently under watch in a D.C. hospital, where he is being treated for injuries sustained after he was shot by other National Guard troops.
Lankanwal is suspected of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard near the entrance to a metro station a few blocks from the White House around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
The victims, identified as Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Beckstrom, 20, were on patrol in the nation’s capital where they had been deployed since August– when President Donald Trump sent troops to the nation’s capital to crack down on crime.
Beckstrom has since died of her injuries, the president announced on Thursday evening.
U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, said on Friday that the Justice Department will seek first-degree murder charges against Lankanawal.
Trump ripped Lakanwal as an “animal” who will “pay a very steep price” for the shooting.
FBI Director Kash Patel echoed the sentiment, saying on Thursday that the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. He also confirmed the bureau was looking into Lakanwal’s communications with individuals in Afghanistan.
