Couple With 2 Other Embassy Employees When Killed

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were with two other Israeli Embassy employees when they were killed, according to an Israeli official who spoke with CNN.

Both staffers were young women and American citizens, according to the official, and neither were injured in the attack.

Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Milgrim, an American, were fatally shot while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night. The young couple was reportedly about to be engaged.

At a news conference, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said the gunman could be seen pacing outside the museum before approaching a group of four people and opening fire.

The suspect, Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, then walked into the museum, was detained by event security, and began yelling, "Free, free Palestine," according to Smith.

"These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!" President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social early Thursday in response to the attack. "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he was shocked by the incident, which came amid Israel's latest major offensive in the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday.

• Who Were the Israeli Embassy Staffers Shot Dead Days Before Getting Engaged?
• Witnesses: Jewish Museum Shooting Suspect Mistaken for Victim