video transcript

The children of the Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul plea for her life. On Monday she loaded a pistol in a bathroom at the police compound, hid it in her long scarf, and shot an American police trainer. Her children say she suffered from mental illness and attempted suicide because of poverty. (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) SAYED IMANUDDIN, SON OF SUSPECT NARGES, SAYING: "She was always complaining about poverty. She complained to my father about our lives. She said our father is poor and our living conditions are not good." They recall her severe mood swings -- at times beating them. She took pills in a suicide attempt a month ago. (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FATIMA, NARGES' DAUGHTER, SAYING: "God knows about the future. I ask the government to free my mother, otherwise our future will be destroyed." They say, their mother, born in Iran, was never critical of the American presence in Afghanistan. Neighbors say they heard her scream at her husband, whose menial job in the crime investigation unit of the police delivers little cash. Officials described the attack as another "insider shooting," in which Afghan forces turn on Westerners. There have been more than 52 such attacks so far this year.