2 Israeli Embassy Staffers Shot Dead in Central Washington, Lone Suspect Held

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Israeli embassy staffers, a young couple about to be engaged, were killed by a lone gunman in Washington, DC, on the evening of Wednesday 21 May 2025, and a suspect who chanted pro-Palestine slogans is in custody, officials said.

The two were shot and killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in the area of 3rd and F Streets in Northwest, a part of central Washington that is about 2 km from the White House.

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said a man shot at a group of four people with a handgun, hitting both the victims. He was seen pacing outside the museum prior to the shooting.

The single suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, chanted "Free Palestine, Free Palestine," after being taken into custody, she said.

"After the shooting, the suspect entered the museum and was detained by event security," Smith said. "Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offence."

The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added.

Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, told reporters the young man killed had "purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem."

President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!" he said in a message on Truth Social. "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his heart ached for the families of the victims, "whose lives were cut short by a heinous anti-Semitic murderer."

"We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. The blood libels against Israel are rising in blood and must be fought to the bitter end," he said in a statement.

Political ammunition

The shootings could give political ammunition to Netanyahu and his far-right partners to take a harder line in the conflict in Gaza as well as generate sympathy for Israel from Western allies who were piling pressure on him to ease the aid blockade in the war-ravaged territory.

In June 1982, Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, was shot in London by the Palestinian Abu Nidal group, founded after splitting from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The assassination attempt failed but led then-Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon to launch an offensive on Lebanon's capital where the PLO had installed its headquarters.

Wednesday's shooting is also certain to further convulse the US debate over the war in Gaza, which has polarised steadfast supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Conservative Israel supporters led by Trump have branded pro-Palestinian demonstrators as antisemitic.

Trump has cut off funding to elite US universities that he says have permitted antisemitic demonstrations, and his administration has detained foreign student demonstrators without charges.

"Targeted violence"

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the shooting, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X: "We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice."

Attorney General Pam Bondi and US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro went to the scene after the shooting.

Deputy FBI Director Don Bongino said the suspect was being interviewed by the police and the FBI.

"Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence," he said in a post on X. "Our FBI team is fully engaged and we will get you answers as soon as we can, without compromising additional leads."

The event at the Capital Jewish Museum was held by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that supports Israel and confronts antisemitism, according to its website.

An online invitation to the event called it the Young Diplomats Reception, describing it as a bringing together of Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45 and the Washington diplomatic community.

Hours after the shooting, several people gathered at the scene, including one who knelt on the ground at the intersection with a modified Israeli flag draped over his shoulders.

Aaron Shemtov, who is studying at a rabbinical college in California, said he came to the museum to show support after hearing of the shooting.

"When a member of the community gets murdered and gets killed for who he is, we stand proud, we stand strong, and we never give up," Shemtov said.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who was also at the scene, said the couple had attended his Washington synagogue occasionally.

"It's very sad to see that instead of these people coming to the ultimate celebration of their life - they were about to get engaged - they get shot dead in the street just because of who they are," said the rabbi, who is also the executive vice president of the Jewish group American Friends of Lubavitch.