IL Man In Custody In Connection With D.C. Museum Shooting

WASHINGTON, DC — A Chicago man is in custody after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum.

Police said the suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested.

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

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also issued a statement in the wake of the killings, saying, "I was horrified to hear of the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC last night. Shortly after the incident occurred, I learned that a member of my team was attending the event. While they are shaken up, they are thankfully safe. MK and I are praying for the victims and their families and all of those affected by this tragedy. "

The victims have been identified 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 was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said.

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

Rodriguez was interviewed Thursday by D.C. police and the FBI, the Associated Press reported, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington is expected to prosecute the case.

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."

My heart breaks for Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were murdered last night at the Capital Jewish Museum. Antisemitic violence has no place in the United States.

We're praying for their families and all of our friends at the Israeli Embassy, where the two victims… pic.twitter.com/IojnTD7JHN
— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 22, 2025

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.

This week @IsraelinUSA marked Israel's 77th Independence Day, a day filled with deep personal and national meaning.

On Independence Day, we celebrate the miracle of the Jewish people returning to their ancestral homeland after 2000 years. pic.twitter.com/O8BE8J40IT
— Yarón Lischinsky (@yaron_li) May 10, 2025

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."

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