What We Know About the Deadly Shooting Outside the Jewish Museum in D.C.

A gunman shot and killed two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, officials said.

The shooter, who was taken into custody shortly after the killings, shouted pro-Palestinian slogans after he was detained, officials said.

“Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence,” Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the F.B.I., wrote on social media.

What happened?

The shooting happened just after 9 p.m. on a street outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was hosting a reception for young diplomats. The museum is in the heart of official Washington, among federal buildings, embassies and other museums. The U.S. Capitol, the F.B.I.’s Washington field office and the headquarters of the Justice Department are all nearby.

A suspect had been seen pacing in front of the museum before the shooting, according to the police. He approached four people who were leaving the event, shooting two of them at close range, and then entered the museum, where he was detained by security officers, the authorities said.

Mr. Bongino said that the suspect was being questioned by the Washington police in conjunction with the F.B.I.’s counterterrorism team.

Who is the suspect?

Officials named Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old man from Chicago, as the only suspect in the killings.

Mr. Rodriguez chanted “free, free Palestine,” after the police took him into custody, Pamela Smith, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said. She added that Mr. Rodriguez told the police where he had discarded the gun he used.

Who are the shooting victims?

The victims were two Israeli Embassy employees whom the Israeli government identified as Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, an American from Prairie Village, Kan. Mr. Lischinsky, originally from Nuremberg, Germany, moved to Israel when he was 16, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the Israeli Embassy in Washington wrote on social media.

Mr. Lischinsky and Ms. Milgrim were about to be engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to Washington. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” Mr. Leiter told reporters.

Mr. Lischinsky was a research assistant in the embassy’s political department, and Ms. Milgrim organized diplomatic missions and visits to Israel, according to Israel’s foreign ministry.

What are U.S. and Israeli officials saying?

Israeli officials expressed shock and described the shooting as an antisemitic act of terrorism.

“I’ve been worried for the past few months that something like this would happen, and it did,” said Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister.

At a news conference on Thursday morning, Mr. Saar drew a connection between Wednesday’s killings and the pro-Palestinian protests that have taken place in the United States and other countries since Israel went to war against Hamas following the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“This is the direct result of toxic antisemitism against Israel and Jews around the world that has been going on since the Oct. 7 massacre,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was shocked by the killings and ordered stronger security for Israeli diplomatic missions around the world, his office said.

American officials condemned the attacks.

“I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city,” Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington said. “We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism, and we are going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks.”

President Trump also condemned the attacks, writing on social media, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

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