Two young Israeli Embassy workers were fatally shot Wednesday night as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington, D.C. The suspected gunman walked into the museum after the shooting and chanted “free, free Palestine” while being detained by event security, D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
Who said what
Smith said D.C. police had not received any intelligence on “any type of terrorist act or hate crime” and did not see anything in the background of the suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, “that would have put him on our radar.” Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the victims, later identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a couple on the verge of getting engaged.
Smith said Rodriguez, 31, had been seen pacing outside the museum, where the American Jewish Committee was hosting a reception for young diplomats. Police believe he targeted the event but picked his victims at random, The Washington Post said. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the shooting would “frighten a lot of people” in the U.S. and “we will not tolerate any acts of terrorism” or “violence or hate in our city.”
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What next?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting and has ordered stronger security for Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide, his office said. Attorney General Pam Bondi said after visiting the scene that “all our federal agencies will work hand in hand” with D.C. police, and the perpetrator “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
