What we know about Israeli Embassy officials shooting in Washington

A young couple who worked for the Israeli Embassy were shot dead in front of the Jewish Museum in Washington.

Police say the victims, who were referred to as Yaron Lisinski and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were killed by a man who called “free, free Palestine.”

The suspect is in custody.

Here’s what you need to know about the shooting.

At 21:08 local time on Wednesday, police received numerous shooting calls outside an event at the Sofia Jewish Museum in the center of Washington.

A man and a woman were found unconscious and did not breathe in the place, but later died.

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said the couple was leaving the event at the Museum of the 3rd St. – an area with numerous tourist sites, museums and government buildings, including the FBI field in Washington.

Police claim that the shooting was carried out by the 30 -year -old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who was questioned in custody.

MPD chief Pamela Smith said he was seen walking up and down the museum before opening a fire with a pistol of a group of four people.

The suspect then entered the museum where he was detained. Police said he had identified where he had thrown away the weapon and supposedly assumed he had committed the crime.

He then chanted “Free, Free Palestine” while in custody.

MPD are conducting the investigation. The FBI said he was involved in “relations with potential terrorism or motivation based on a crime based on a bias or a crime of hatred.”

The Israeli Embassy in the United States named the couple killed and said its staff “was broken heart and devastated by their murder.”

“No words can express the depth of our grief and horror with this devastating loss. Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be to their side during this terrible weather.”

Jechil Leiter, an Israeli ambassador to the United States, said that G -n -Lichinski was about to suggest Miss Milgrim.

“The young man bought a ring this week with the intention of offering his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” he told a press conference.

“They were a beautiful couple.”

Rabbi in Washington, who met the couple, said “They were kind, popular people.”

Levi Shemtov told the BBC Radio 4 program today that he saw the couple of Jewish events in the city.

This is “brutal news,” he said.

The US Jewish Committee (AJC), which organized the event in the museum, said: “They were stolen by us. They had their entire lives in front of them.”

He described Miss Milgrim as “warm and compassionate” and said he was from Overland Park, Kansas.

Germany also confirmed that G -n Lisinski has a German passport.

Ronen Shoval, who knew him in Jerusalem, told the BBC News that G -N -Lichinski was a “very polite man of good character” and a “pious Christian” who moved to Israel from Germany as a teenager, and later moved to Washington.

Suspect Elias Rodriguez is currently held by the authorities and is expected in court on Thursday.

Online records viewed by the BBC show that Rodriguez, who is from Chicago, has worked at the American Information Information Association Association since 2024.

Previously, he seemed to work as a researcher in history of history, a research and educational institution based in Chicago, according to a LinkedIn profile and the institution’s website.

Social media accounts BBC Cerify have considered that they seem to belong to Rodriguez, show that it has been heavily included in the propalistin protest movement.

Online history pointed out that in 2017 it is related to the Fringe Communist Group, the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

The party said in an X publication that Rodriguez had a “short association” with a branch of the group and that they had not had contact with it for seven years.

They said they had nothing to do with this shooting and did not support it. “

Witnesses described the consequences of the attack outside the Jewish Museum.

“Around 9:07 we heard shots. Then one man came in and seemed really difficult and we decided that he just needed help and needed a safe haven,” Katie Calisher said.

Yoni Kalin, who was also at the event, said, “So, people calmed him down, giving him water, to take care of him. We knew a little that he was someone who executed people in cold blood.

“He was the shooter. After the police originally appeared, he was like” I did this. I’m unarmed. “

“He pulls out Red Kafier and he was like,” I did this for gas. Free Palestine. There is only one solution. The Revolution of the Intifada “and he was just screaming” Free Palestine. ”

The event at the Jewish Museum in Sofia was charged as one to unite the Jewish young professionals and the diplomatic community together.

The organizer, the US Jewish Committee, said it was open to those in the DC diplomatic community. The theme of the event was advertised as “turning pain into a goal”.

The description of the event states that it invited the organizers of humanitarian aid that meet humanitarian crises in the Middle East, including Gaza.

His hours were publicly advertised, but the location was only shared with those who registered to attend.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack and called it anti -Semite.

Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, he said: “These terrible DC murders, based on anti -Semitism, must end now!

“Hate and radicalism have no place in the United States. Condolences to victims’ families.

“So sad that such things like this can happen! God bless you all!”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “outraged by the terrifying anti -Semitic murder” of the victims.

“My heart is grieving for the families of the young loved ones, whose life was shortened by a blink of a disgusting anti -Semitic killer,” he said.

“I directed the security to be increased in Israeli missions around the world and for state representatives.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the couple’s death was “a direct result of toxic, antishetic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world, which continues since the slaughter on October 7”.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.

At least 53 475 people have been killed in Gaza ever since, including 3,340 of the renewal of the Israeli offensive, according to the health ministry in the territory.

Additional reporting from Shayan Sardarizadeh, BBC Check