When Rahmanullah Lakanwal came to the U.S. from Afghanistan, he appeared lively and full of hope, but over the course of years, he slipped into isolation and was prone to taking cross-country drives without telling his family, according to a volunteer who worked closely with his family.
Lakanwal, an Afghan national, is accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers on Nov. 26. One of those soldiers, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died from her wounds. On Monday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey described the other guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, as in "serious" condition.
"My biggest concern was that [Lakanwal] would harm himself," the refugee resettlement volunteer told NPR. "I worried he would be suicidal because he was so withdrawn."
The volunteer spoke with NPR on condition of anonymity because they said they feared for their safety, as well as the safety of others in their volunteer community, because of possible retaliation for having worked with Afghan refugees, including the Lakanwals.
They said when they first met Lakanwal in 2022 at his home in Bellingham, Wash., he appeared hopeful and outgoing. "He was outside with his kids, laughing and playing and having animated conversations with other Afghan men," they said.
Lakanwal held jobs for brief periods and hosted gatherings at his home, the volunteer said, but by 2023 he began isolating himself and appeared "defeated" by the challenges of finding steady work and adapting to life in the United States.
The volunteer shared with NPR emails sent in January 2024 that raised alarms about Lakanwal's well-being.
"He spends most of his time in his darkened bedroom, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife and older kids," one email said. "I personally believe that [Mr. Lakanwal] is suffering from both PTSD and from his work with the US military in Afghanistan," the volunteer wrote, adding that they are "not a healthcare professional."
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said U.S. officials believe Lakanwal was "radicalized" while living in the United States.
"We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we're going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him," Noem said.
But the volunteer who worked with Lakanwal and other Afghan refugees in Washington state told NPR they saw no sign of radicalization. Instead they described an individual who seemed to be experiencing a deepening personal crisis, complicated by Lakanwal's poor English-language skills and deepening cultural isolation. The volunteer said there were no organized resources for refugees beyond their initial welcome.
"Families were just in my mind abandoned into the community," the volunteer said.
Before coming to the U.S. in 2021, Lakanwal served in one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that supports Afghan refugees and is run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan. Lakanwal's unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to AfghanEvac, and fought the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. government.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement last week that the shooter involved in the attack was admitted into the U.S. "due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA."
The volunteer told NPR they had no detailed knowledge of Lakanwal's military duties and never observed him expressing hostility toward the United States. They said his increasingly erratic behavior never suggested any kind of threat or danger.
"I was so shocked that this happened. I asked myself, 'Were there warning signs?' No," the volunteer said.
While the volunteer couldn't provide insight into Lakanwal's possible motive for the alleged attack, they were aware of him making long drives like the one that took him to Washington, D.C., last week. Beginning in 2023, Lakanwal would disappear for weeks at a time in the family car, roaming as far as Arizona and Illinois.
"He drives day and night and sends map pins to one of the volunteer sponsors and we can grab photos from Instagram stories, but no other communication. His family generally does not know where he is or when he will be back," said one of the volunteer group emails written in January 2024.
Emails shared with NPR also indicate volunteers in Washington state attempted to reach out to professional refugee aid groups, including World Relief and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), hoping to find help for Lakanwal's deteriorating mental state, but they got limited response.
"A group of concerned individuals [volunteering on refugee resettlement] in the Seattle area had a meeting in January 2024 to talk about dwindling resources for these families, and frustration was expressed," the volunteer told NPR.
NPR reached out to World Relief and USCRI for comment. USCRI didn't respond. World Relief sent a statement declining to say whether the organization had any involvement in Lakanwal's resettlement in the United States.
"We cannot confirm whether or not we have served any specific client without permission from our federal government partners who administered the process for bringing Afghans to the United States beginning in 2021," the World Relief statement said.
The group added that it "provided services to those [refugees] assigned to us by our governmental partners" and said it is supporting law enforcement in the investigation of Lakanwal's case.
Following last week's violence, the Trump administration moved to freeze refugee cases involving Afghan nationals and launched a review of refugees and migrants from more than a dozen countries living legally inside the United States. Activists working with asylum-seekers from Afghanistan told NPR they view Lakanwal's alleged violence as an isolated case.
"You can't paint with a broad brush this entire community. The vast majority of Afghans who have come here are just good upstanding citizens," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran who heads the group AfghanEvac.
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