Gunman kills two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington
發佈日期: 2025-05-22 23:52
TVB News
Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. were shot and killed on Wednesday night while leaving an event at a Jewish museum.
The suspect yelled, "Free, free Palestine" after he was arrested.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack as antisemitic.
The man entered the museum looking distressed. People thought he needed help. But he was actually the suspect.
Thirty-year-old Elias Rodriguez, of Chicago, shouting "Free, Free Palestine," was taken into custody.
He is suspected of gunning down two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington, a young couple as they were leaving the Capital Jewish Museum.
The victims was identified as Israeli Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, an American. Lischinksy was planning to propose to Milgrim next week in Jerusalem.
U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the killings on social media. These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA, Trump wrote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under criticism by many allies because of his military's actions against Palestinians in Gaza, said: "We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel."
Eyewitness John Elleson said: "I was walking by and a guy came up and it looked like a gun. I couldn't tell what it was, but I heard it afterwards, the shots. And he shot this young couple. And then he ran inside and yelled something. I couldn't quite make it out, what he said. He just ran up. It was terrible."
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was at the scene.
She said: "I spoke to the president of the United States multiple times tonight. On behalf of the president, his prayers are with all of us. All of the Jewish community, everyone in Washington, DC, state, local and federal agencies, and our great U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro, who will be prosecuting this case. We will be doing everything in our power to keep all citizens safe, especially tonight, our Jewish community."
Israel has conducted a 19-month campaign in the Gaza Strip, killing 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.
It is in response to an October 7th, 2023 raid led by Palestinian group Hamas into Israel, resulting in 1,200 deaths.
Countries such as Britain and France have criticised Israel's recent expansion of its war in Gaza and for preventing aid from reaching hundreds of thousands of Palestinians inside the strip.
