Homeland Security Worker Among the Dead in Georgia Attacks

A man has been charged in a string of attacks near Atlanta that left two women dead and a man in critical condition, drawing the Trump administration's attention after one victim was identified as a Department of Homeland Security employee who was walking her dog, the AP reports. 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, UK native Olaolukitan Adon Abel, was granted US citizenship in 2022, when Joe Biden was president. "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, cataloging a litany of the defendant's previous alleged crimes but not specifying whether they happened before he was granted citizenship.

Court records show that Olaolukitan Adon Abel, whose name appears in different variations in court and government records, pleaded guilty in California in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and attacking another person when he was stationed at Naval Base Coronado. Military records show the defendant enlisted in the Navy in 2020, last serving in the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, and as a petty officer received a Navy "E" Ribbon for superior performance for battle readiness. He was kicked out of the Navy after the 2024 assault on the two police officers. Mullin said Adon Abel has a criminal record that includes sexual battery, but the US has long barred people convicted of most violent felonies from becoming citizens, and it wasn't immediately clear if Adon Abel had a criminal record that predated him becoming a citizen in 2022.

Bullis was the last victim found in Monday's string of attacks; she was shot and stabbed just before 7am Monday, about six hours after the first attack. Bullis served in multiple roles at DHS Office of Inspector General, including as an auditor in the Office of Audits, and as a Team Leader in the Office of Innovation, DHS posted on social media, saying she brought "warmth, kindness, and a genuine sense of care to her colleagues each day." Relatives said in a statement, that she loved her family, running, reading, and traveling, and "her warmth and generosity touched everyone surrounding her."