The man accused of shooting two US National Guard members near a Washington, D.C., Metro station last year has been hospitalised after refusing to eat and drink in jail, a federal judge has said.
During an emergency hearing on Thursday, US District Judge Amit Mehta said Rahmanullah Lakanwal was being treated at George Washington University Hospital after “refusing food and, in some cases, water”. The judge added that his health “has deteriorated quite substantially and he is in dire circumstances”.
Prosecutors allege that Lakanwal, a 30-year-old Afghan national, drove from Bellingham, Washington, to the capital and opened fire near the Farragut West Metro station, close to the White House, on 26 November. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was fatally shot, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, then 24, survived a gunshot wound to the head. Two other guardsmen were also injured.
Lakanwal was charged last month in a 17-count superseding indictment, with prosecutors indicating that charges related to Beckstrom’s murder are eligible for the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty.
Lakanwal came to the US in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a programme for evacuating and resettling Afghans after the US withdrawal. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal had briefly been a member of a partner force in Kandahar. The US attorney for the District of Columbia called the shooting a “major offense against the United States”.
