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THE man suspected of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside Washington DC’s Jewish museum and screaming “free Palestine” showed eerie red flags before allegedly opening fire.
Witnesses have opened up about their brushes with Elias Rodriguez, 31, after he was accused of murdering Israeli national Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim.
The tragedy unfolded on Wednesday evening, when a shooter rushed a group of four people who were filtering out of an event being held at the Capital Jewish Museum, cops said.
According to witnesses, the man has been seen eerily pacing around the property earlier that night.
After hearing gunshots, people inside the museum were stunned to see a man calmly walk into the building. He appeared to be visibly upset, so kind witnesses brought him a cup of water.
Just moments later, cops barged in the door and arrested him, leading him to scream out in protest, a haunting video has captured.
Lischinsky and Milgrim, who both worked for the Israeli Embassy, have been named as the victims. Lischinsky was a research assistant, and Milgrim helped to plan missions and visits to Israel.
Milgrim was preparing to head on a trip to Jerusalem with Lischinsky on Sunday to meet his parents.
She didn’t know that Lischinsky had purchased an engagement ring and was planning to propose during their trip, her heartbroken parents have revealed.
“He was incredible,” Milgrim’s father Robert said of his would-be son-in-law, according to the New York Times.
“He was very much like Sarah – passionate, extremely intelligent, dedicated to what he does, always on the cause of what’s right.”
The parents recalled hearing reports of a shooting outside an event for the American Jewish Committee, where Milgrim was a fellow.
When they checked their phones to check her location on a family locator app, their hearts sank when they saw she was still at the scene of the crime.
“I pretty much already knew,” said Robert.
“I was hoping to be wrong.
SECURITY CRACKDOWN
The Washington DC government had just allocated a windfall of funds to ramp up security at the Jewish museum on Wednesday over serious security fears.