The man accused of shooting two National Guard members, killing one, in Washington, DC, in 2025 has been admitted to a metropolis hospital after he refused to eat and typically drink in jail as he awaits trial.
During an emergency listening to Thursday, DC federal Judge Amit Mehta mentioned Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s “health has deteriorated quite substantially.”
“Mr. Lakanwal’s health circumstances,” Mehta mentioned, “is in some sense self-inflicted.”
Mehta added that Lakanwal has refused meals and “sometimes water.”
According to prosecutors, Lakanwal was admitted to George Washington University Hospital at midnight. They say they have been suggested by the US Marshal Service of normal well being points the defendant confronted two weeks in the past.
During the emergency listening to, Mehta mentioned he would permit prosecutors to see Lakanwal’s medical information from the previous 24 hours. Those information, prosecutors mentioned, have been beneath seal and can assist information them on what the subsequent steps needs to be.
Lakanwal, who traveled from Washington state to the capital metropolis in late November earlier than he allegedly ambushed the two officers, pleaded not responsible to the 9 fees towards him — together with first-degree homicide — in February.
Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members who was shot within the again of the pinnacle, was pronounced lifeless the subsequent day. The different member, Andrew Wolfe, survived the assault.
Lakanwal labored with the CIA for over a decade in Afghanistan earlier than the US navy withdrew from the nation. He got here to the US in 2021.
The Justice Department has mentioned it plans to hunt the dying penalty towards Lakanwal.