Embassy shooting victims identified as Israeli aides

A couple working at Israel’s embassy in Washington DC, who were killed by a gunman on Wednesday night, were about to become engaged.

- TOM WATLING

Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were attacked while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, police said.

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of murder last night. He said shortly after his arrest: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Tributes have poured in for the pair after the Israeli embassy published a photo of them yesterday morning.

Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said at a news conference that the two people killed were a couple about to be engaged. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” he said.

“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the embassy said later in a statement. “The entire embassy staff [is] heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss.”

The pair had been attending an American Jewish Committee event at the Capital Jewish Museum, described online as a “young diplomats’ reception”. The event was intended to bring together young Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45.