WASHINGTON – The Afghan refugee accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House on Nov. 26 had descended into severe depression and bizarre behavior, locking himself in his room for days and driving off suddenly on long, solo road trips, according to emails a community advocate sent out last year in a plea to help his family.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who served since he was a teenager with violent, CIA-backed "Zero Units" in Afghanistan, is charged with murder, assault and weapons possession in the shooting of two West Virginia National Guardsmen blocks from the White House. One soldier died, the other remains in critical condition.

Lakanwal and his wife and five children entered the United States in 2021 in the wake of the Biden-era withdrawal from his home country that year. They were resettled in Bellingham, Washington.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Lakanwal was "radicalized" in the time since he came to the U.S. Officials have not announced a motive, and law enforcement investigations into the shooting are ongoing.

The emails, sent by an advocate to Washington state service providers in January 2024 and obtained by USA TODAY, paint a picture of Lakanwal's spiraling mental state, increasingly erratic behavior and neglect of his family. The author of the emails shared them under the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns. The emails were first reported by the Associated Press.

The advocate suggested, based on interactions with the family, Lakanwal's work in Afghanistan had left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and that he showed signs of manic depressive disorder.

Lakanwal had 'manic episodes,' took 'crazy' road trips

Since March of 2023, the month he quit his job, Lakanwal had not been "functional as a person, father or provider," the advocate wrote. He spent hours on end in a dark room, refusing to speak to his family and not answering calls or messages, according to the emails.

The advocate also described "manic episodes" in which Lakanwal would set off on long, "crazy road trips" to Chicago, Phoenix and Indianapolis, without telling his family where he was going. During the last trip, he took with him the card containing the family's welfare benefits, using them all up to pay for gas, the advocate wrote.

Lakanwal drove across the country from his home in Washington state to the nation's capital the week before the shooting, according to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

After his wife left the kids with Lakanwal for a week-long stint, she returned to find they had not bathed, changed clothes or eaten well, prompting the children's school to step in, the advocate wrote.

His inability to hold down a job left his family in dire straits, according to the emails. The family members were facing imminent eviction from their home after he failed to pay rent for six months and had not been able to retain employment for nine months, the advocate wrote.

Laknawal served with violent, CIA-led units in Afghanistan

Lakanwal spent years serving in an elite "Zero Unit" – CIA-backed squads that would carry out night raids on suspected terrorists or Taliban militants. News reports and investigations have documented evidence that these units were involved in bloody, violent raids that resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths.

The shooting of the two National Guardsmen prompted the Trump administration to shut down all processing of asylum applications, as President Donald Trump blamed immigrants from "third-world" and "crime-ridden" countries for the shooting.

"Many of them are no good, and they shouldn't be in our country," he told reporters on Nov. 30.

But critics of the crackdown, including U.S. veterans and Afghan allies, have said they believe that Lakanwal's time in the violent units – at the CIA's behest – may have left him with severe psychological issues.

"They carry some heavy, heavy trauma with them," said Nasirullah Safi, an Afghan and former interpreter for the U.S. military who said he knew several Afghan veterans of those types of units.

"We fought for this country, and we will do it again in a heartbeat, no hesitation," he added.

Contributing: Chris Kenning

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DC shooting suspect was mentally spiraling for years, emails say

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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