FBI Studies Writings Linked To Suspect In Fatal Shootings Of 2 Israeli Embassy Staffers

Updated at 6:05 p.m.

WASHINGTON, DC — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said.

Both President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack an act of antisemitism.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Lischinsky was a research assistant, and Milgrim organized visits and missions to Israel. They were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.

The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said.

• Related: Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed In Shooting Were About To Get Engaged

When he was taken into custody, the suspect began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said. She said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community.

Rodriguez told police after his arrest, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," federal authorities said Thursday in announcing criminal charges. The suspect told police that he was the one who “did it,” according to charging documents.

Authorities described the slayings as a targeted act of terror.

Rodriguez faces charges of murder of foreign officials and other crimes. Additional charges are likely, prosecutors said Thursday, as authorities continue to investigate the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.

The charge of murder of foreign officials is a death-penalty eligible offense, The Washington Post reported.

Surveillance video showed the gunman shooting Lischinsky and Milgrim in the back, then reloading his gun and shooting them again, according to an FBI affidavit. The police recovered 21 9mm casings at the scene, the Post said.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said authorities were working to corroborate unspecified “writings allegedly authored" by Rodriguez. That was likely a reference to a document circulating online in which he expresses anger over Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of some 250 hostages.

The shooting will be investigated as a possible hate crime, said Steven J. Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, The Washington Post reported.

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Donald Trump posted on social media early Thursday. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."

What To Know About Victims

Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting. “We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the two people killed were a young couple about to be engaged, saying Lischinsky had purchased a ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio that the woman killed was an American employee of the embassy and the man was Israeli.

Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, worked as a research assistant in the embassy’s Political Department since September 2022 after serving three years in the Israel Defense Forces, the New York Post reported.

Milgrim, a Jewish-American who earned degrees from the University of Kansas and American University, had worked in the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy since November 2023, the newspaper said.

The violence occurred following the American Jewish Committee's annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum.

The theme of the reception the couple attended was “turning pain into purpose” and it focused on humanitarian diplomacy and a response to the humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa, The New York Post said.

The war in the Gaza Strip began with the Palestinian militant group Hamas coming out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, to kill 1,200 people and take some 250 hostages. Since the surprise attacks, Israel's forces have have killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.

Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots and a man came inside looking distressed, they said. When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine,’” Kalin said.

Reaction To Embassy Shootings

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington CEO Gil Preuss said in a statement that he was horrified by the shooting and mourned the loss of the two people killed.

“Our hearts are with their families and loved ones, and with all of those who are impacted by this tragic act of antisemitic violence,” he said.

Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington said the shooting would “frighten a lot of people in our city and in our country,” The New York Times reported. “I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city. We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism, and we are going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks” against antisemitism.

Bishop Michael Burbridge of the Arlington Catholic diocese said in a statement: "May we unite in prayer for the souls of two Israeli embassy staff members who were fatally shot last night in Washington, DC. Please God, grant strength to their families and all who loved them. Peace begins with each one of us, Pope Leo XIV has said, in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others. May the spirit of peace be renewed today, and may the God who loves us restore peace to the Holy Land and our nation."