5 things to know about the suspect charged with Israeli Embassy murders

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 27, 2025

A man draped in the Israeli flag, bearing a cross and the name "Jesus" at its center, gestures as Metropolitan Police officers secure the area outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead in Washington, D.C., in the early hours of May 22, 2025. Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday, May 21, outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free, free Palestine," authorities said, with U.S. officials and Israeli diplomats expressing shock and outrage over the killings. | ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Several nonprofit and political organizations sought to distance themselves from a man suspected of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. last week.

Police say 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago opened fire on a group of four people outside an event at the museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee, striking two of them fatally at close range.

The Israeli Embassy identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who have been described in the media as a "young couple about to be engaged."

Investigators believe the attack appeared to be politically motivated after Rodriguez reportedly shouted "free, free Palestine!" while in custody. Authorities recovered the firearm soon after.

Here's what we know so far about Elias Rodriguez.

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