Two Israeli Embassy officials shot at the Washington Jewish Museum

Two Israeli staff at the embassy were shot dead in front of a Jewish museum in the center of Washington by a man whom police claim had called “free, free Palestine” after the attack.

The victims, a young couple, were shot dead while leaving an event at the Jewish Museum in Sofia, the DC police said, adding that the incident seemed to be directed.

The shooting happened at 21:05 local time (01:05 GMT) in an area with numerous tourist sites, museums and government buildings, including the FBI field in Washington.

After the suspect, who was detained by the authorities, opened fire, he entered the museum and was stopped by security, said the head of the Sofia police department Pamela Smith.

The suspect, the 30 -year -old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, was seen walking outside the museum before opening a fire of a group of four – he kills the couple, said Chef Smith at a press conference.

Police “had no previous interactions” with suspects, she added.

“We see nothing of his origin that would put him on our radar.”

Israeli US ambassador Jehiel Leather told the conference that the murdered couple had planned to get married.

The Leather said the male victim bought a ring this week and planned to offer on a trip they had planned in Jerusalem. The names of the victims were not released.

“We heard the shots and then a man really got into a difficult position. We thought he needed help,” an eyewitness Katie Caller told the BBC, citing a suspect.

Jojo Kalin, a member of the US Jewish Committee, who helped organize the event, said he did not witness the shooting but experienced a “sense of guilt” about the incident.

“I will not lose my humanity because of this or to reproach. And that the Israelis and the Palestinians still deserve self -determination and (that is) just deeply ironic that this is what we were discussing,” she said.

US President Donald Trump suggested that the killings were driven by anti -Semitism.

“These terrible DC murders, based on anti -Semitism, have to end, now! Hate and radicalism have no place in the US,” he wrote on the social platform Truth.

In a publication of the X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “we will follow the responsible ones and bring them to court.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called the incident “a broken act of anti -Semitic terrorism”.

“By hurting diplomats and the Jewish community crosses a red line,” wrote Ambassador Danny Danon to X. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act.”

The incident sparked a major response to the police and closed several main streets in the city.

The Israeli Embassy spokesman Tal Naim Cohen confirmed that two employees were shot “at close range” while attending the event at the museum.

The embassy had a “complete faith” that the authorities “would protect representatives of Israel and Jewish communities in the United States,” he said.

The Israeli ambassador was reported not at the museum event during the shooting, US media reported.

The DC campus of the University of Georgetown is also temporarily locked, according to CBS.

“When we went to leave the cops, and the security was down and we told us that we could not leave,” said a student who had been blocking in his building for more than an hour.

The Sofia Jewish Museum, as many other Jewish institutions in the United States, is fighting security problems against the background of increasing anti -Semitism.

“Jewish institutions across the city, across the country, are concerned about the security due to some very scary incidents that some institutions face and due to the climate of anti -Semitism,” CEO Beatrice Guritz In front of NBC News In a separate news report before the attack on Wednesday.

The museum recently received a grant to upgrade its security in part, she said because of a new LGBT Pride exhibit.

“We admit that there are also threats related to it,” said G -Gurvitz. “And again we want to ensure that our space is so welcoming and sure for everyone who comes here as we explore these stories.”

Israel’s US ambassador Mike Hukabi, published in X, to call the attack “the horrific terror that the Israeli people wake up this morning.”