The victims of a fatal shooting outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., have been identified as a young couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy and were on the verge of getting engaged.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, and referred to them both as embassy staff members. The Israeli Embassy said the pair were “in the prime of their lives.”
“No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss,” the embassy said in a statement on social media. “Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time.”
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., told reporters the pair was a “beautiful couple,” and said Lichensky had purchased an engagement ring “with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem.” World leaders quickly condemned the slayings.
Lore Herzog, who has known Lischinsky since 2018, remembered him as a “very morally upright person with a very strong sense of justice.” The two met while living in Jerusalem.
“Yaron was super cheerful and seemed to really love everything he did,” said Herzog, who now lives in Amsterdam. “It was his dream to work in politics and international relations.”
The Embassy of Israel to the United States of America/AFP via Getty Images
The AFP reported that Lischinsky was a German dual national. Herzog said that he “spoke fondly of growing up” in Bavaria, a region of southern Germany, and was “very much in love with his childhood home” there. He came from a large family, Herzog said.
“He loved them all dearly and spoke about them all the time,” Herzog said.
Suspect in custody
Elias Rodriguez has been named as a suspect in the shooting and is currently in custody, officials said. Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, was initially “observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum” before he approached a group of four people, “produced a handgun,” and shot Lischinsky and Milgrim, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said in a news briefing.
Rodriguez entered the Jewish Museum immediately after the shooting, and was arrested by museum security, Smith said. Witness video shows Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” while being arrested.
Rodriguez had discarded the weapon used in the shooting, but told police where it was. It has since been recovered, Smith said.
Rodriguez also “chanted ‘free, free Palestine,’ while in custody,” Smith said.
Metropolitan Police said Rodriguez didn’t pop up on an initial search of crime databases and wasn’t on the radar of law enforcement agencies. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city’s police department and the FBI will be investigating the shooting.
A Justice Department source told CBS News that Rodriguez may make his first court appearance as early as Thursday.
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