Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim had spent the evening at an event dedicated to bringing together war-torn and politically divided regions of the world when a man with a gun killed the soon-to-be engaged Israeli Embassy staffers Wednesday.
The American Jewish Committee had been hosting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum aimed at bridge-building in the Middle East and North Africa. Lischinsky and Milgrim had exited the event when they were fatally shot around 9 p.m., according to Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, who shared news of the couple’s pending engagement.
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A man who had been pacing back and forth outside the museum approached a group of four people and opened fire using a handgun, Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
After the shooting, the suspect walked into the museum looking “distraught,” JoJo Drake Kalin, who organized the Young Diplomats event, told Sky News, NBC News’ international partner. Kalin said she mistook the man for a bystander.
“I actually offered and gave him water, unbeknownst to me that I was actually looking evil in the eye,” Kalin said. “There was commotion and a frenzy, but no one was aware of lives lost.”
Police identified the suspect in the shooting as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago. When he was handcuffed and being escorted by police, he shouted, “Free, free Palestine.”
Smith said Rodriguez “implied” he committed the shooting and told authorities where to find the weapon used in the shooting.
“Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing, and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”
The shooting comes more than 18 months after Israel launched a bombing campaign and ground invasion in the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas militants, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. International aid groups and governments have also warned of the risk of famine in the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered condolences, saying, “My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer.”
The couple were planning a future together, officials said. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” Leiter said at a late-night news conference.
Netanyahu directed security increases for Israeli missions and representatives around the world, he said.
President Donald Trump also condemned the violence.
“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen!” Trump said on social media.
Kalin said the Young Diplomats reception, which was being held at the museum before the young couple was killed, focused on “turning pain into purpose,” with the aim of bringing together young professionals, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to talk about bridge-building in the Middle East and North Africa region.
“We were wanting to counter the us-versus-them narrative,” Kalin said. “It’s painfully ironic that at a time we were speaking about bridge-building, somebody came in with such hate and destruction.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, will prosecute the case.
Steve Jensen, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said his team was working to determine whether the shooting may have been hate-motivated or potentially an act of terrorism.
CORRECTION (May 22, 2025, 7:30 a.m. ET): Because of an editing error, a previous version of this article misspelled the last name of one of the victims. She is Sarah Milgrim, not Milgram.
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