Two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in downtown Washington DC by a man.
According to the Police, the assailant shouted “free, free Palestine” after the attack.
The victims, a young couple, were shot while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, DC police said, adding that the incident appears targeted.
The shooting happened at 21:05 local time (01:05 GMT) in an area with numerous tourist sites, museums and government buildings, including the FBI’s Washington field office.
After the suspect, who has been detained by authorities, opened fire, he walked inside the museum and was stopped by security, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said.
The suspect, Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was seen pacing outside the museum before opening fire on a group of four – killing the couple, Chief Smith said at a news conference.
Police “have not had any prior interactions” with the suspect, she added.
“We don’t see anything in his background that would have placed him on our radar.”
Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter shared at the conference that the couple killed had been planning to get engaged.
Mr Leiter said the male victim had purchased a ring this week and had planned to propose on a trip they’d planned to Jerusalem. The victims’ names have not been released.
“We heard gunshots and then a guy came in looking really distressed. We thought he needed help,” eyewitness Katie Kalisher was quoted to have said according to BBC.
US President Donald Trump suggested the killings were driven by antisemitism.
“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform.
In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said security at Israeli embassies around the world would be stepped up following the shooting.
“My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman, whose lives were cut short by a heinous antisemitic murderer,” he said.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against the state of Israel.”
The incident triggered a major police response and shut down several core streets in the city.
Israeli embassy spokesman Tal Naim Cohen confirmed that two staff members were shot “at close range”.
The embassy had “full faith” that authorities would “protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States”, he said.
The Israeli ambassador was reportedly not at the museum event at the time of the shooting, US media reported.
JoJo Kalin, a board member of the American Jewish Committee who helped organise the event, said she didn’t witness the shooting but felt a “sense of guilt” about what happened.
“I’m not going to lose my humanity over this or be deterred. And that Israelis and Palestinians both still deserve self-determination and [it is] just deeply ironic that that’s what we were discussing,” she said.