In brief
An Atlanta man has been arrested and charged with murdering two women and seriously injuring a man in a series of attacks that took place within hours. The victims include Lauren Bullis, a 26-year-old Department of Homeland Security employee. The Secretary of Homeland Security has voiced concerns regarding the assailant's citizenship status, as he obtained U.S. citizenship in 2022. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are looking into whether the attacks were random.
ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta man has been charged in a string of attacks over a matter of hours that left two women dead and a man in critical condition, drawing the Trump administration’s attention after one of the victims was identified as a Department of Homeland Security employee who was walking her dog.
The killing of the DHS worker, Lauren Bullis, and shootings of the two other victims on Monday led Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin to issue a statement raising concerns that the 26-year-old defendant, U.K.-native Olaolukitan Adon Abel, was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022, during President Joe Biden's administration.
“These acts of pure evil have devastated our Department, and my prayers are with the families of the victims,” Mullin wrote in a statement posted on social media, elaborating on the defendant’s prior alleged crimes without clarifying if they occurred before his citizenship.
Authorities suspect at least one victim was randomly targeted, while investigations continue into the motivations behind the other attacks. The timeline began around 1 a.m. in Decatur, where the first victim was found with multiple gunshot wounds and later died in the hospital.
The second victim, a homeless man, was found shot multiple times at a grocery store and remains in critical condition. Bullis, the DHS employee, was discovered with fatal injuries from gunshots and stabbings in another suburb later that morning.
Following these incidents, Abel was arrested during a traffic stop and faces multiple charges including malice murder and aggravated assault. Authorities have not confirmed whether he has legal representation.
Mullin notes that DHS has historically worked to block criminal offenders from gaining citizenship, and it remains to be established whether Abel’s criminal history existed prior to his citizenship acquisition.
