Two people were shot outside an event being hosted at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night.
At least one person has been killed on the spot, with one of the victims both believed to be a staff members at the Israeli embassy in Washington die later, according to US outlet ABC News.
ABC News said the second wounded victim has been transported to hospital in critical condition where he died.
The Trump administration’s homeland security director, Kristi Noem, has now confirmed that the victims, both of whom were Israeli embassy staffers, have died.
“We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice,” Noem wrote in a post on X.
Washington police chief Pamela Smith said officers have arrested a suspect following the murder of two Israeli embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.
Police have “tentatively identified” the suspect in the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers as Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old man from the city of Chicago.
Smith said the suspect was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting. Following the attack, security detained the suspect and handed them over to police. Smith said the suspect chanted “Free, free Palestine” in custody.
Israeli embassy in Washington spokesman, Tal Naim Cohen, confirmed that two staff members were shot “at close range” while attending a Jewish event at the museum.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, has condemned the attack as a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism”.
“Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line. We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act. Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives – everywhere in the world,” Danon said in a post on X.
