Grim Details of DC Shooting Emerge

Suspect in murders of 2 Israeli Embassy staffers outside DC museum could face death penalty
Posted May 23, 2025 6:25 AM CDT
DC Museum Shooting Suspect Could Face Death Penalty
Police tape is seen Thursday, May 22, 2025, at a Chicago address listed in public records as the home of Elias Rodriguez, identified as the suspect in the killing of two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington.   (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Capital punishment is on the table for the suspect in the DC museum shooting on Wednesday that left two Israeli Embassy staffers dead. Interim US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro now says that the case is eligible for the death penalty, and that Elias Rodriguez—who the Washington Post notes has been hit with charges of first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials, as well as firearms charges—has been informed that's what he's facing. "This is the kind of case that picks at old sores and old scars, because these kinds of cases remind us of what has happened in the past that we can never and must never forget," Pirro said, per NBC Washington. More:

  • Shooting: Charging documents offer more grim details of the shooting in which Israeli Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and American Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple said to be close to getting engaged, were gunned down. Per surveillance footage included in charging documents, Milgrim tried to crawl away after being initially shot. The suspect allegedly followed her, shot again, and stopped to reload. Milgrim still managed to sit up, which is when the suspect reportedly shot her yet again.

  • Before the shooting: Authorities have more on Rodriguez's movements before the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum. He reportedly flew from Chicago for a work-related event, with a legally bought 9mm handgun in his checked luggage. After a hotel stay overnight in DC, he purchased a ticket to the event that Lischinsky and Milgrim were attending about three hours before it took place, per an affidavit cited by the AP.
  • Suspect: Rodriguez, said to be 30 or 31, didn't say much in his first court appearance on Thursday, where he was represented by DC's public defender's office, per the Post. No bail was sought by Rodriguez's legal team; he's next set to be in court for a preliminary hearing on June 18.
  • Victims: The Post and New York Times have more on Lischinsky and Milgrim, including the fact that Milgrim's parents didn't know the two were about to get engaged until after they were killed. "The ironic part is that we were worried for our daughter's safety in Israel," Robert Milgrim tells the Times. "But she was murdered three days before going."
(More DC museum shooting stories.)

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