Suspect Yelled ‘Free Palestine’ After Fatally Shooting Couple Outside Jewish Museum in D.C.

A suspect is in custody after two staff members of Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C., were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night, police said.

The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, shouted “Free, free Palestine” before being arrested, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said. He has been charged with first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Israel’s foreign ministry identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26. Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said during a news conference following the shooting that they were a couple and were about to get engaged.

“Words cannot begin to describe the heartbreak and sorrow,” Tal Naim, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy, said in a post on X on Thursday, adding, “Instead of walking you down the aisle, we are walking with you to your graves. What an unbearable loss.”

The police chief said Rodriguez, 31, “implied” he had committed the shooting and told authorities in custody where he had discarded the weapon. There is no ongoing threat to public safety, officials said.

The victims had been leaving the museum, which is located roughly half a mile from the U.S. Capitol, when they were gunned down around 9 p.m. ET, Leiter said. The American Jewish Committee had been hosting an event at the museum for young Jewish professionals. IsraAID, an Israeli-based aid group, said the event focused in part on “bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza through Israeli-Palestinian and regional collaboration.”

Steve Jensen, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said his team was working to identify whether the shooting may have been hate-motivated or possibly an act of terrorism, NBC News reported.

“Targeted anti-Semitic violence is an attack on our core values and will be met with the full weight of federal law enforcement,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote Thursday in a statement posted to X that described the shooting as “an act of terror.”

“The individuals responsible will be held accountable, and the Bureau will continue pursuing every lead until justice is served,” he wrote.

The fatal shooting occurred amid the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, launched after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel by Hamas militants that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,200 people. Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign in Gaza has killed more 53,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

President Donald Trump is “saddened and outraged” over the deadly attack, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing on Thursday. “Everyone here at the White House is praying for the victims’ friends and families during this unimaginable time,” she added.

What we know about the victims

Lischinsky had worked for the Israeli Embassy as a research assistant on Middle East and North African affairs since 2022, according to his LinkedIn page. He wrote on that page that he emigrated from Germany to Israel at the age of 16.

Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, described Lischinsky as a Christian and “a true lover of Israel” who dedicated his life “to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause.” The New York Times reported he was the son of a Jewish father and a Christian mother.

Milgrim, who was Jewish, indicated on her LinkedIn page that she had worked for the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy since 2023. She was previously involved with Tech2Peace in Tel Aviv, where she worked on a study exploring the “role of friendships in the Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding process,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“My passion lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work,” Milgrim, a Kansas native, wrote on her page.

Lischinsky and Milgrim were scheduled to travel to Jerusalem this weekend, where she was set to meet his family there for the first time, her father, Robert Milgrim, told the The New York Times. Her parents learned after her death that Lischinsky had purchased an engagement ring ahead of the trip.

“The ironic part is that we were worried for our daughter’s safety in Israel,” Robert Milgrim told the Times. “But she was murdered three days before going.”

What we know about the suspect

According to a complaint filed by the FBI, which was unsealed on Thursday, Rodriguez told police at the scene, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.” He later told police he had purchased a ticket to the event at the museum three hours prior to its start.

The complaint states that Rodriguez “expressed admiration for the actions of an individual who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 2024, as a form of protest intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

During his initial court appearance Thursday evening, Rodriguez waived his right to a detention hearing, meaning he will be held without bond as he awaits his trial. During his appearance, the judge informed him that he faces the possibility of the death penalty. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 18.

Multiple armed officers wearing clothing with “FBI” lettering were seen heading inside an address in Chicago that’s tied to the suspect on Thursday morning.

Sarah Marinuzzi, who was at the museum with friends at the time of the shooting, told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera on Thursday that she interacted with the suspect after the attack. She described hearing gunshots near the museum’s entrance before a “clearly distressed” man ran inside the building.

“We kind of assumed this man … was a witness to the crime, so everyone’s trying to help him and calm him down,” she said, adding that the man encouraged everyone to call the police.

“He was inside the museum for about 10 to 15 minutes with us,” Marinuzzi continued. Once a police officer entered the building, she said the man began shouting “I did it!” and “Free Palestine!”

She said he then pulled out a keffiyeh, a traditional scarf worn by Arab communities that has been a symbol of Palestinian nationalism for decades. He was then handcuffed and removed from the building, Marinuzzi said.

Rodriguez was an employee at the American Osteopathic Information Association, the group and the American Osteopathic Association said in a joint statement. “As a physician organization dedicated to protecting the health and sanctity of human life, we believe in the rights of all persons to live safely without fear of violence,” the organization said.

Read the full complaint below: