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23-05-2025
WASHINGTON: Two staff members from the Israeli embassy in the United States were shot and killed on Wednesday night as they left a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, prompting outrage from US and Israeli officials.
A 30-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois, named as Elias Rodriguez, has been arrested in connection with the shooting, the police said. He is the only suspect.
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as “horrible”, stating there was no place for “hatred” in the US. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “devastated” by what had unfolded in the US capital.
“This is a despicable act of hatred, of anti-Semitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy,” he said.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, said federal authorities were investigating the attack and would bring its “depraved perpetrator” to justice.
What is known about the shooting?
Officers responded to multiple calls about a shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum at about 9:00pm on Wednesday (01:00 GMT Thursday).
The victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the museum, which is in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest, Washington, DC, close to an FBI field office and the US attorney general’s office, when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
First responders found the victims unconscious and not breathing. Despite life-saving efforts, both were pronounced dead.
According to police, the suspect entered the museum after the shooting and was detained by security personnel at the event.
“Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offence,” Smith said.
What do we know about the victims?
The two were named by the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.
Both were Israeli members of staff. A German diplomatic source told media that the male victim of the attack also held a German passport.
The Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, told reporters the young staffers were a couple “about to be engaged”.
“The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” Leiter revealed.
What do we know about the suspect, Elias Rodriguez?
The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois.
Reporting from close to the site of the shooting, a journalist Heidi-Zhou Castro said the suspect was not previously on the radar of local authorities.
“He was not a known entity. There was no heightened alert prior to this happening,” she said.
What do we know about the suspect’s motive?
So far, the police have not confirmed any motive.
Speaking on Thursday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, blamed a “toxic anti-Semitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world” since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October, 2023.
When the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, was taken into custody, he began chanting: “Free, free Palestine,” Police Chief Smith said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
