Two Israeli embassy staff were killed in a shooting outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, according to officials and media reports.
A man and a woman were shot and killed in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest which is near the museum, an FBI field office and the U.S. attorney’s office, according to the reports.
“Two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a post on X.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference Wednesday night there is no active threat to the public.
The Metropolitan Police Department said a single suspect is in custody. The suspect was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting, and was later detained by event security.
Police Chief Pamela Smith said the suspect was chanting “Free, Free Palestine” while in custody.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. says the two victims were a young couple engaged to be married. He said he spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump after the shooting.
FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team had been briefed on the shooting.
“While we’re working with [Metropolitan Police Department] to respond and learn more, in the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families,” he wrote on X.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the shooting “a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”
“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon said in a post on X. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro were on the scene of the shooting.
The Metropolitan Police Department had declined to comment, saying a press conference would be held shortly.
