The Afghan refugee charged with gunning down one National Guard member and nearly killing another in a wild shooting last fall has been hospitalized after turning away food behind bars, a federal judge said.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said Rahmanullah Lakanwal was admitted to a hospital last week because his “health has deteriorated quite substantially” and he is in “dire circumstances” because he was forgoing any sustenance.
“Mr. Lakanwal’s health circumstances is … in some sense self-inflicted,” the federal judge said during the emergency hearing Thursday.
The U.S. Marshals Service warned last month that the defendant had put himself “at risk for long-term health consequences, including a potential risk of death,” court documents said, due to abstaining from eating and drinking “for an extended period.”
Prosecutors sought to access Mr. Lakanwal’s medical records so they could determine how to best treat him once he returns from the hospital. His public defender agreed to hand over some of the medical records, despite concerns that prosecutors could use those records to boost their case against the defendant.
Mr. Lakanwal, 29, remains jailed on charges that he killed West Virginia Army National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and seriously wounded U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in a November shooting just blocks away from the White House.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mr. Lakanwal, who allegedly drove from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to the District with a stolen gun in order to ambush the service members.
An arrest report said another National Guard member who witnessed the shooting heard the defendant shout “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire on the two victims.
Mr. Lakanwal came to the U.S. in 2021 as one of the thousands of refugees resettled in the United States by the Biden administration following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the defendant worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force” in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Prior reporting said Mr. Lakanwal was part of one of the CIA’s “Zero Units,” a shadowy paramilitary group of Afghan natives who conducted strikes on Taliban assets.
Human rights organizations said Zero Units were known for their brutality and referred to the crews as “death squads.” At least one Afghan national was denied entry into the U.S. because of his time as a CIA-backed combatant.
Mr. Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges during his court hearing last month. He is due back in court Sept. 16.
