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Two employees of the Israeli message who were killed outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, DC,

Note from the publisher: Find the latest reporting on the Capital Jewish Museum Shooting Here.



Cnn

Two employees of the Israeli embassy were shot by a shooter who later screamed “Free Palestine”! While he was arrested on Wednesday evening in Washington, DC, the authorities said.

The murdered employees, who called the Foreign Ministry for Foreign Affairs, called Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a couple from whom officials were soon engaged.

The two took at an event for young specialists in the Capital Jewish Museum, which was organized by the American Jewish Committee. At around 9 p.m. in front of the museum, they were approached by a shooter who opened and killed fire, said officials.

The suspect, who identified the DC police as a 30-year-old Chicagoer Elias Rodriguez, pretended to be a spectator after the shootout, an eyewitness told CNN.

When the police arrived, the man got involved and screamed “Free, Free Palestine” while he was tied up with handcuffs. According to the authorities, he is currently custody. Pamela Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police Department, said the man “implied that he had committed the crime.”

The shootout, which took place in the heart of the hill, shaken the Jewish community in a time increased global tensions, since the attempts led by the USA to convey a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, continued to fight unsuccessfully and in Gaza.

The tensions are also high on the US college campus, on which hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators under polarized debates about the right to protest against Israel's military actions and accusations of anti-Semitism.

“We will do everything in our power to protect all citizens, especially tonight of our Jewish community,” said the US Attorney General Pam Bondi late Wednesday.

“These terrible DC murders, which are obviously based on anti -Semitism, now have to end, now! Hate and radicalism have no place in the United States,” said President Donald Trump in a post about the social truth and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

Rodriguez is interviewed by the DC Metropolitan Police and the joint terrorism -Ask Forces of the FBI, said the deputy FBI director Dan Bongino on X.

“Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence,” said Bongino.

Ted Deutch, the CEO of the AJC, described the shootout “an unspeakable act of violence”.

“At that moment when we are waiting for further information from the police, what exactly what has happened, our attention and our hearts are exclusively with those who have been damaged and their families,” he said.

Police chief Smith said that Rodriguez was supposedly back and forth in front of the museum before approaching a group of four and shot two of them with a pistol.

The 30-year-old later withdrew in the museum, where he was finally arrested, said Smith.

According to Sara Marinuzzi, an eyewitness that spoke to CNN, the suspect “pretended to be a witness in the building” and waited that the police arrived over 10 minutes before taking responsibility for the attack.

Another witness, Paige Siegel, told CNN that she heard Rodriguez say: “I did it for Gaza” and “Free Palestine”.

Rodriguez, who was taken into custody on Wednesday evening, told the officials: “I did that,” said the eyewitnesses Yoni Kalin.

Kalin was in the museum and took part in the same event organized by the AJC when he rang shots. “At first I didn't recognize them as shots,” he said CNN on the phone.

Moments later a man entered the museum, which according to Kalin seemed to be a witness. He remembered the man who was sitting in the museum, but did not interact with many people who were present at the event. Ten minutes later, when the police entered the building, the man seemed to confess, shooting and told the officials: “I did that, I did it for Palestine,” said Kalin.

“It's terrible,” said Kalin. “I just didn't notice that he was the perpetrator.”

Kalin added that Rodriguez seemed shaken between the shootout and the arrest. People approached the suspect of offering water and checking whether he was fine, he said.

Kalin said that around 50 people were participated in the event that was organized to discuss how multi-glow-crushing organizations can work together to bring humanitarian aid into war-bound regions such as Gaza. He added that over 30 employees from various messages took part in the event.

“I'm still in shock,” said Kalin to CNN. “I just hope that we learn from it and only realize that violence and terror do not lead to us to be there,” he added.

The Israeli ambassador to Yechiel Head of the US and the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi attends the place of the shootout.

When the officials arrived on site minutes after the shootout, they found “an adult man and an adult female and non -breathing woman,” Smith told reporters late Wednesday. “Both victims took their injuries,” she said.

“We are shocked this morning and horrified about the news of the brutal terrorist attack, in which two of our embassy employees in Washington claimed life,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote in the early morning of Thursday in one post on X.

“We accept the grieving families in this painful time and will continue to support them,” was the mail.

“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the blossom of their lives,” said Yechiel Head, Israel's ambassador in the United States, also in a social media post on Thursday. “The entire embassy tab is destroyed by its murder with a broken heart and on the ground. No words can express the depth of our grief and our horror about this devastating loss.” Head previously reported reporters that the couple would be engaged.

“A young man bought a ring this week to suggest his girlfriend in Jerusalem next week. They were a nice couple,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the young couple's families in a statement.

“My heart hurts for the families of the beloved young man and the beloved young man and the beloved wife, whose life was suddenly broken off by a hideous anti -Semitic murderer,” said Netanyahu.

This story has been updated with additional details.

Kaitlan Collins from CNN, Oren Liebermann, Jennifer Hansler, Kaanita Iyer and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.

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