An Afghan suspected terrorist “disappeared” roughly two weeks before he allegedly ambushed and shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC, one of his neighbors revealed.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, lived a quiet life in Bellingham, Washington, but struggled to find work, neighbor Mohammad Sherzard told the Associated Press.
“He was so quiet and the kids were so polite, they were so playful. But we didn’t see anything bad about him. He was looking OK,” Sherzad said.
He added that Lakanwal “disappeared” about two weeks ago – a handful of days before federal prosecutors said he gunned down 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and left her fellow Guardsman, Andrew Wolfe, 24, critically wounded just blocks from the White House on Wednesday.
CNN also reported that a neighbor said Lakanwal had pulled a recent vanishing act from Bellingham, a scenic city on Bellingham Bay, roughly 90 miles north of Seattle and a stone’s throw from the Canadian border.
Lakanwal hadn’t gone to his local mosque in more than two weeks, the neighbor said.
“I didn’t see him, he disappeared,” the neighbor told CNN. “He was not coming … somebody said he’s sick, someone else said he went somewhere.”
The neighbor – who did not want to be identified – lived in the same apartment complex as Lakanwal, who shacked up with his wife and five children.
They also said that two of Lakanwal’s nephews lived with the family.
Follow the latest on the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC:
- Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guardsmen shot by crazed Afghan refugee, dies at 20: ‘Looking down at us’
- Two National Guard troops shot near White House in suspected terror attack, alleged gunman in custody
- DC terror suspect will have charges upgraded to murder: Pirro
- Top Trump intel official reveals DC terror suspect wasn’t vetted for entry to US
- Afghan terror suspect ‘disappeared’ roughly 2 weeks before ambushing National Guard troops in DC, neighbor says
It wasn’t clear whether the nephews are related to him or his wife. However, one of Lakanwal’s brothers — who was a platoon leader in the same elite CIA-backed “Zero Unit” as the alleged gunman — also lives in the US.
Sherzad described Lakanwal as polite, quiet and speaking very little English.
He said other members of their shared mosque said Lakanwal had run into trouble finding work.
Lakanwal had worked as a driver for Amazon Flex, delivering packages as an independent contractor, starting in late July, but stopped delivering packages in August, a spokesperson for the megacompany said.
Sherzad didn’t return The Post’s request for further comment.
