ATLANTA (AP) — A man charged in a series of attacks near Atlanta that left two women dead and a man in critical condition has drawn the Trump administration’s attention after identifying one of the victims as a Department of Homeland Security employee.
The killing of DHS worker, Lauren Bullis, and the shooting of two other victims on Monday prompted Homeland Secretary Markwen Mullin to issue a statement expressing concern that the 26-year-old defendant, UK-native Olaolukitan Adon Abel, was granted US citizenship in 2022 when Biden was the Democrat 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, listing a litany of the defendant’s previous alleged crimes but not specifying whether they occurred before he was granted citizenship.
Court records show that Olaolukitan Adon Abel, whose name appears in various variations in court and government records, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and assaulting another man while stationed at Naval Base Coronado in California.
Authorities have said they believe at least one victim was randomly targeted in this week’s shooting, and possibly more.
Dawn of violence
The first victim was found near a restaurant in the Decatur area around 1 a.m. Monday with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital but died, DeKalb County Police Chief Gregory Padrick said at a news conference. Police have not publicly identified him.
In Brookhaven, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the Atlanta suburbs, a 49-year-old homeless man was shot multiple times as he slept outside a grocery store, Brookhaven Police Chief Brandon Gurley said about an hour after the first attack. The man, whose name has not been released, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
“It’s clear to us that this was a completely random attack on a member of our homeless community,” Gurley said.
At 7 a.m. and more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in the suburb of Panthersville, officers responding to the call found Bullis suffering from gunshot and stab wounds, Padrick said. He died on the spot.
Brookhaven investigators determined the three attacks were connected, Gurley said.
Adon Abel was taken into custody later Monday during a traffic stop in Troup County, which borders Alabama. He is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated assault and a firearms count, court records show. He waived an initial court appearance Tuesday, and the public defender listed as his attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Toyin Adon Abel Jr., the defendant’s brother, declined to speak about his brother when reached by phone but expressed sympathy for the victims. “I feel terrible for the victims, their families and their connections,” he said. “It’s a scary thing.”
Remembered for her warmth and compassion
Bullis served in several roles, including as an auditor in the DHS Office of Inspector General and as a team leader in the Office of Innovation, DHS posted on social media, saying she “brought a genuine sense of warmth, compassion and caring to her colleagues every day.”
Relatives said in a statement that she loved her family, running, reading and traveling and “her warmth and generosity touched everyone around her.”
Ashley Tolian, a fellow DHS auditor in Denver, said she met Bullis at a work conference last year. The two became fast friends as they bonded over the race and planned to race at Walt Disney World.
“You can’t meet her and be her friend,” Tolian said, choking back tears. “She was the nicest, sweetest, most encouraging person I’ve ever met.”
Naval Service and Criminal Matters in California
Military records show the defendant enlisted in the Navy in 2020, last serving in the Helicopter Marine Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, and received the Navy “E” Ribbon for outstanding performance in combat readiness as a petty officer.
But in 2024, he was arrested and charged with assaulting two Coronado police officers and assaulting another man. He pleaded guilty, court records show, and he was discharged from the Navy in September of that year.
The suspect had a criminal record, according to Mullin
Mullin said Adon Abel has a criminal record that includes a sexual battery charge.
Online court records show that a man listed with the same name and date of birth pleaded guilty last June to four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery in Chatham County, Georgia.
Mullin also noted that since President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees DHS, has worked to ensure that people with criminal histories cannot obtain citizenship. But the United States has long barred people convicted of most violent crimes from becoming citizens, and it was not immediately clear if Adon Abel had a criminal record that would have prevented him from becoming a citizen in 2022.
In response to a request for more details about the case and the defendant’s criminal history, DHS released a post to The Associated Press about Bullis and his death.
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Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland, and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas contributed.
