Two staff members from the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, during a reception being hosted by the American Jewish Committee’s D.C. Young Professionals Board.

According to DC Metropolitan Police chief Pamela Smith, one suspect – since identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago – opened fire outside the museum at 9:08 PM, striking a young couple, who were readying to get engaged next week in Jerusalem, killing them both. The suspect then entered the museum and chanted “Free, free Palestine!” before being detained by event security.

Yaron Lischinsky hy”d, a research assistant for Middle East & North African Affairs at the Israeli Embassy, has been identified as one of tonight’s victims. A native of Germany, he made Aliyah at the age of 16. The second victim was identified as Sarah Milgrim, H’yd, a Jewish American who worked at the Israeli embassy. The two were about to get engaged. Yaron, z’l, had already bought a ring and was planning on proposing next week in Jerusalem.

The embassy released a statement saying: “Yaron and Sara were our friends. They were in the prime of their lives. This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by the murder. There are no words to express the depth of our sorrow and horror at this terrible loss. Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will stand by them during this horrific time.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is now leading the investigation, and is reportedly treating the incident as a politically motivated act of hate targeting Jews and Israeli representation in the U.S. capital.

Dozens of guests, including embassy personnel and members of Washington’s Jewish community, were reportedly inside the museum when the shooting occurred. Attendees were rushed into lockdown as security and emergency responders arrived on the scene.

Witnesses said that the terrorist ran inside the building after the attack, but the people in the building were unaware of his identity. Security guards even offered him water because he appeared distressed “due to witnessing the attack.”

Witness Sara Marinuzzi told CNN that the security guards tried to comfort him. “He was kind of having erratic behavior. They figured he witnessed the shooting.”

“He pretended to be a witness, asked security to call the police, and waited over 10 minutes for police to arrive,” she said. “When they arrived, he admitted to the crime, telling police, ‘I did it, I did it for Gaza. Free Palestine!'”

Yoni Kalin, another witness, told Fox News that it was a miracle there wasn’t another mass shooting inside the building. “We didn’t realize he had murdered two people, he sat with us for fifteen minutes. Only when he said ‘I’m not armed’ and pulled out a red keffiyeh – we understood. He started shouting ‘Free Palestine, Intifada revolution.’ Thank G-d he left the gun in the bushes outside the building. Only later, a friend told me that he saw the security cameras – Rodriguez simply shot someone in the back, a real execution, with 5 to 10 shots.”

Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, called the shooting a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

“Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon wrote on X. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act. Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives – everywhere in the world.”

The Israeli Embassy released the following statement, confirming that two of its staffers were shot:

“Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot this evening at close range while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC.

We have full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)