FBI Investigating Fatal Shootings of Israeli Embassy Staffers in Washington as ‘Act of Terror’

The incident that left two dead has the FBI’s ‘full attention,’ FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said.

FBI agents cordon off the scene outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead in Washington on May 21, 2025. Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

The FBI is investigating the fatal shootings of two Israeli Embassy staffers near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as a terrorist act, the agency’s deputy director said in a statement on Thursday.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote in a post on social media platform X that the “act of terror” has the FBI’s “full attention” and added that severe penalties will be pursued in the case. Further updates will be provided shortly on the case, he said.

“Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless, gutless cowards,” he wrote in the post. “And the penalties will be harsh as we tighten up this investigation and run down any additional leads.”

In a statement late on Wednesday night, FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency was working with local law enforcement to obtain more information while asking for prayers for the pair who were shot and killed along with their family members.

In the incident, which occurred after around 9 p.m. local time in Washington, suspect Elias Rodriguez of Chicago allegedly approached a group of people leaving the museum and opened fire on them. Rodriguez yelled “Free, free Palestine” as he was being arrested, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told a news conference.

Officials identified the two people who were killed as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American citizen. They were in a relationship and were about to get engaged, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said.

It prompted Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide to enhance security, coinciding with Israel’s launch of another major offensive in Gaza as part of its war with Hamas, sparked by the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel that killed more than 1,200 civilians.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, has said that more than 50,000 Palestinians have since died in the conflict.

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media early Thursday morning. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi offered her prayers to the victims in a statement posted on X.

At a news conference, Bondi said that her office will “be doing everything in our power to keep all citizens safe, especially tonight our Jewish community,” adding that Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro will prosecute the case.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, described the shooting as an act of “antisemitism which as we know is all too rampant in our society.”

“I’m praying for those who were killed, all those affected, and their families,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that he was shocked, adding that it is “witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel.”

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, described the shooting as a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

“Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon wrote on X.

Lischinsky and Miligrim were locally employed staff, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Both were trying to promote reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, according to the separate advocacy groups they each belonged to.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.