Capital Jewish Museum attacker shot victims in the back, authorities say as he is charged with murder
Elias Rodriguez was charged with the murder of foreign officials, first-degree murder and other crimes
Interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks during a press update on a shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers, at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025. (Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man charged with killing two Israeli embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, shot his victims multiple times, including firing at one repeatedly as she attempted to crawl away, according to an FBI agent’s account of the incident.
The account was filed as the Justice Department charged Rodriguez with multiple crimes on Thursday, some that carry a potential death sentence if convicted. He is being charged with the murder of foreign officials, first-degree murder and other crimes in connection with the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
According to the charging document, Rodriguez told police officers arriving on the scene, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”
The document corroborates accounts from people on the scene who had been attending the event at the museum organized by the American Jewish Committee. They said the alleged shooter had entered the museum and remained for some time before confessing to authorities and being arrested. He shouted, “Free, free Palestine” while being led away, video showed.
The document does not illuminate how Rodriguez allegedly selected his victims, who had exited the event when they were killed. But it adds new details about their last moments, including that they were shot from the back while they were waiting at a crosswalk adjacent to the museum, after Rodriguez passed them. It also says security footage showed Rodriguez firing several times on the victims after they fell to the ground and shooting the woman, Milgrim, as she attempted to crawl away and sit up.
It also says Rodriguez traveled to Washington, D.C., from his home in Chicago the day before the attack and checked a gun in his luggage. The gun was purchased in 2020, the document says. The document also says Rodriguez said he had “purchased a ticket” for the event several hours before it was due to begin.
The event, which was for young Jewish professionals and focused in part on diplomatic strategies to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, made its location information available only to registrants. Jewish security groups are examining potential lapses that might have enabled the shooting to take place.
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