Officials said that the shooting occurred near an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. A suspect, who expressed solidarity with Palestine, is in custody.
Two young Israeli Embassy aides were shot and killed outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Wednesday night by a man who shouted pro-Palestine slogans after he was detained, according to law enforcement officials.
The close-range shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on a downtown street outside an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, in the heart of official Washington, behind the F.B.I.’s Washington field office and near the Capitol, Justice Department and F.B.I. headquarters.
Pamela A. Smith, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters at a late-night news conference at police headquarters that the man exclaimed, “Free, free Palestine,” after he was in custody. He also informed police of the location of a gun.
Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador, told reporters at a news conference that the two people killed were a young couple about to be engaged. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” he said, calling them a “beautiful couple.”
“I will say this: We are a resilient people,” he added. “The people of Israel are resilient people and the people of the United States of America are resilient people.”
The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was detained shortly after the shootings, law enforcement officials said. The victims’ names were not immediately released.