2 Israeli embassy helpers who were killed in Washington DC: Live updates

The suspect, which was identified as Elias Rodriguez (30) from Chicago, was detained shortly after the shootout, and there was no persistent threat to public security, said law enforcement officers.

Pamela A. Smith, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said reporters at a press conference that Mr. Rodriguez called on “Free, Free Palestine” after his detention. He also told the police where he threw away the weapon used by the shooting, Chief Smith said.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. According to the ministry, Mr. Lischinsky, 30, was a research assistant in the political department in the political department of the embassy and Ms. Milgrim, 26, to Israel.

Yechiel Head, the Israeli ambassador, said at the press conference that the two people killed were a couple who were to be engaged. “The young man bought a ring this week to suggest his girlfriend in Jerusalem next week,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Israel was “outraged” by the murders and had arranged more security for Israeli diplomatic missions around the world, his office said. He described the murders as a product of anti -Semitism, of which some Israeli civil servants said that the Israeli military had moved to war on October 7, 2023 after the militant group's fatal attack on October 7, 2023.

“This is the direct result of a toxic anti -Semitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world, which has been taking place on October 7 on October 7,” said Gideon Saar, Israel's Foreign Minister, at a press conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.

President Trump wrote on social media: “This terrible DC murder, which is obviously based on anti -Semitism, now have to end, now! Hate and radicalism have no place in the USA.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser from Washington said that the shootout “would frighten many people in our city and in our country”.

“I would like to make it clear that we will not tolerate this violence in our city,” she said. “We will not tolerate terrorist files and we will stand together as a community against anti -Semitism in the coming days and weeks.

After the fatal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military began a campaign in Gaza that devastated the enclave. It triggered a wave of propalestinic protests, including in Israeli messages and on the American college and university site, most of which were non-violent. The Israeli embassy in Washington was a special focus for demonstrators.

The debate about the protests was often vitriolical. Some critics, including the Trump administration and Israel, have said that demonstrators promote anti -Semitism and tax violence against Jews. Many demonstrators and their supporters said that such allegations should suppress the political language and their support for the Palestinian cause.

Police officers said a single suspect was responsible for the attack before the museum before the shootout was brought up on Wednesday. He turned to four people who left the event, the two victims shot, and then entered the museum, where he was arrested by security officers, they said.

Tal Naim Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy, ​​wrote before the press conference in Washington on social media that the two employees were shot “up close”.

Ms. Smith, the chief of police in Washington, said it was not immediately clear why the suspect after the shootout had entered the museum or what he was going to do inside. Mr. Rodriguez had not been identified as a threat in Washington, the officials added.

Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, said the suspect was interviewed by the police in Washington in connection with the agency's fight against terrorism. “Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence,” he said on social media.

The event of the American Jewish Committee in the Capital Jewish Museum was described online as a “reception of young diplomats” to bring young Jewish experts between the ages of 22 and 45 and the diplomatic community in Washington together.

“We are pleased to present this year's topic: Pain for the purpose of the purpose,” said the group in the online invitation and added that the event would include members of groups to react to humanitarian crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Ted Deutch, Managing Director of the American Jewish Committee, said: “We are destroyed that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the event location.”

Foreign Minister Marco Rubio condemned the attack. “This was a brazen act of Feige, anti -Semitic violence,” he wrote on social media. “Don't make a mistake: we will find the responsible persons and put you in court.”

John YoonPresent Aaron BoxermanPresent Claire Moses And Celeste Lavin contributed to the reporting.