Chicago man who was arrested after 2 Israeli embassy employees who were killed in DC at the shootout near the Jewish Museum

Washington (AP) – Two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington were shot when they had left an event in a Jewish museum, and the suspect screamed after his arrest, “free, free Palestine,” said the police.

The breathtaking attack on Wednesday evening, which the FBI director Kash Patel described as an act of “targeted anti-Semitic violence”, prompted to improve Israeli missions to improve their security and reduce their flags to half-executive. It came when Israel launched another big offensive in the Gaza Strip in a war with Hamas, which increased the tensions in the Middle East and triggered alarms over Spillover under the law enforcement authorities in the USA

The two people killed when Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American, a young couple who had engaged, were, according to Yechiel, the Israeli ambassador in the USA

Lischinsky told others at an event in which he took part before he was killed that he was looking forward to returning to Israel to celebrate an upcoming Jewish holiday, said Ted Deutch, the managing director of American Jewish Committee, who had received the reception.

The couple left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect who went up and down in front of the museum turned to a group of four people and opened fire, said Pamela Smith, chief of police at Metropolitan, at a press conference.

The shooter from Chicago, which was identified by the police as Elias Rodriguez, 31, from Chicago, went to the museum, was held by the event security and began to sing: “Free, freelance Palestine,” said Smith.

“These terrible DC murders, which are obviously based on anti -Semitism, now have to end!” President Donald Trump released on social media early Thursday. “Hate and radicalism have no place in the USA.”

Israel's reaction

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he was shocked.

“We are experiencing the terrible price of anti -Semitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in an explanation.

The US law firm in Washington, led by former judge Jeanine Pirro, will pursue the case.

Public records list Rodriguez as alive in a modest 850 square meter apartment on the north side of Chicago. The television station WLS in Chicago recorded a video of heavily armed law enforcement officers in front of the building on Thursday morning.

It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had a lawyer who could comment on his name. A telephone number listed in public records rang unanswered.

The deputy FBI director Dan Bongino wrote in a contribution on social media: “Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence.”

Israel's campaign in Gaza

The influential Pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera was broadcast on a loop that apparently was the shooter's cell phone film material and wore a suit jacket and a pants and was pulled away after shooting, his hands behind his back.

The war, which was inflamed by Hamas from October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages, destroyed large areas in the Gaza and replaced most of its population.

In the period since then, the devastating campaign in Israel in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, mainly women and children, according to the local health authorities, the count of which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The battles displaced 90% of the approximately 2 million population of the territory, triggered a hunger crisis and wiped out huge parts of the city landscape of Gaza.

“In the cold blood”

The shootout followed the annual reception of the AJC Young Diplomats in the museum.

“Sarah and Yaron were stolen by us,” said Deutch, the managing director of the AJC. “Moments before they were murdered, they smiled, laughed and comrades an event with colleagues and friends. We are shocked and with a broken heart while we try to process this immense tragedy.”

He described Milgrim from Overland Park, Kansas, as “warm and compassionate, who is committed to building peace and passion for sustainability and people”. He said Lischinsky was an employee of the political department of the message, who told others at the event that he endeavors to return to Israel to celebrate Shavuot's holiday with his family.

Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were in the museum when they heard shots and a man came in and looked desperate. Kalin said people came to his aid and brought him water because he thought he needed help without realizing that he was the suspect. When the police arrived, he took off a red Keffiyeh, the Palestinian headscarf, and repeatedly screamed “free Palestine,” said Kalin.

“This event was about humanitarian aid,” said Kalin. “How can we help both people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring Muslims, Jews and Christians together to work together to actually help innocent people? And then he only murdered two people in cold blood.”

Last week, the Capital Jewish Museum was one of the local non -profit organizations in Washington, which from a 500,000 dollar scholarship program has to increase its security. The leaders of the museum were concerned because, according to NBC4 Washington, it is a Jewish organization and because of their new LGBTQ exhibition.

“We recognize that threats are also associated,” the Executive Director Beatrice Gurwitz told the television station. “And again we would like to make sure that our room for everyone who comes here is so inviting and safe while we explore these stories.”

In response to the shootout, the museum said in a statement that it was “deeply sad and horrified by senseless violence”.

Israeli diplomats have a prehistory of violence, both through state-supported attackers and by Palestinian militant in the decades of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which in 1948 emerged from the foundation of Israel from the foundation of Israel. However, the peace process between the pages has been stalled for years.