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.jpg "Two Israeli embassy staffers shot dead in Washington")
Two Israeli embassy staffers, a young couple about to be engaged, were killed by a lone gunman in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, and a suspect who chanted pro-Palestine slogans is in custody, officials said.
The two were shot and killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in the area of 3rd and F Streets in Northwest, a part of central Washington that is about 1.3 miles (2 km) from the White House, Reuters reported.
Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said a man shot at a group of four people with a handgun, hitting both the victims. He was seen pacing outside the museum prior to the shooting.
The single suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, chanted "Free Palestine, Free Palestine," after being taken into custody, she said.
"After the shooting, the suspect entered the museum and was detained by event security," Smith said. "Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offense."
The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added.
Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., told reporters the young man killed had "purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem."
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!" he said in a message on Truth Social. "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his heart ached for the families of the victims, "whose lives were cut short by a heinous anti-Semitic murderer."
"We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. The blood libels against Israel are rising in blood and must be fought to the bitter end," he said in a statement.
Source`Panorama.am
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