Law enforcement work the scene after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. AP
The attack prompted Israeli missions to beef up their security.
The shooting comes as Israel has launched a new assault in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli war on Gaza has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The war also has displaced 90% of the territory’s roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape.
The two victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was observed pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said.
When he was taken into custody, the suspect began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said. Smith said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community.
“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Donald Trump posted on social media early Thursday. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio that the woman killed was an American employee of the embassy and the man was Israeli.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was at the scene with former judge Jeanine Pirro, who serves as the U.S. attorney in Washington and whose office would prosecute the case.
The statement from Netanyahu’s office said he spoke to Bondi, who told him Trump was “involved in managing the incident” and the U.S. would bring the perpetrator to justice.
Al Jazeera channel aired on a loop what appeared to be mobile phone footage of the alleged gunman, wearing a suit jacket and slacks, being pulled away after the shooting, his hands behind his back.
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