The motive of Afghan-origin Rahmanullah Lakanwal firing at two National Guard officials in an ambush-style attack outside White House still remains a puzzle as his neighbors, friends could also not shed any light on what turned him into a rogue. Lakanwal worked with the CIA before and was allowed to enter the US in 2021 because of his past association with the CIA. He settled in a low-rent neighborhood of Washington state with his wife and five children and was working as a delivery driver for Amazon Flex as an independent contractorA childhood friend of Lakanwal’s told New York Times that the shooting suspect suffered mental problems from what he saw in Afghanistan. “When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it,” the friend told the New York Times. “It put a lot of pressure on his mind.”
Neighbors react in shock after raid: ‘We saw they were ICE’
A neighbor told the NYT that the Lakanwals kept to themselves but he once discussed Afghan food with Lakanwal’s wife. Some neighbors told that they felt unsettled when they learned that the suspect was living in the same complex. A neighbor said when the sound of a raid woke her, she thought they were ICE at first. “But they yelled, ‘F.B.I.’ and that they had a search warrant.”
Trump admin looking to deport Lakanwal’s family members
President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration is examining whether to deport the family of Lakanwal. “Well, we’re looking at that right now. We’re looking at the whole situation with family,” Trump said on being asked about the family members.Amid the blam game between the Biden administration and the Trump administration — as Lakanwal entered in 2021 and got asylum in 2025 — the Trump administration announced a permanent pause on migration from all third-world countries.
