FBI raids Chicago home linked to D.C. shooting of Israeli Embassy staff
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Police officers cordon off the entrance of an apartment building in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood after the FBI conducted a raid at the Chicago residence on Thursday. Photo: Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
Chicago Police and FBI agents raided an Albany Park apartment Thursday morning that they say is connected to the man accused of shooting and killing two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.
The latest: Armed FBI officers entered a home on Troy Street, while "a large law enforcement presence" blocked area streets, NBC 5 reported.
The big picture: The suspect, who was apprehended by a security guard minutes after the shooting outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, chanted "free Palestine" as he was arrested, D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a press briefing.
Zoom in: The alleged gunman has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez.
- A LinkedIn page shows that Rodriquez is an employee of the American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA). The company wrote in a statement that it is "shocked and saddened to learn that an AOIA employee has been arrested as a suspect in this horrific crime."
- Rodriquez was not previously known to the police, Smith said at the briefing. Law enforcement believes he acted alone.
- The victims were identified by the Israel Foreign Ministry on Thursday morning as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.
What they're saying: Gov. JB Pritzker was quick to condemn the shooting, saying one of his staffers was at the museum for the event. "Make no mistake: this was an attack on the Jewish community," Pritzker said in a statement.
- "As a Jew who led the building of a museum dedicated to standing up against bigotry and hatred, I know how sacred these places are and what trauma this incident has caused."
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also addressed the shooting. "We are not a better, stronger, safer city if our Jewish community is continuously under attack."
Zoom out: Chicago has been embroiled in alleged antisemitic incidents since the start of the war in Gaza. Last year, campus protests were mostly peaceful, but Jewish students have accused local universities of fostering unsafe environments.
- Police said two Jewish students were assaulted on DePaul's campus in 2024. The man authorities believe to be responsible for the attacks has been charged with a hate crime.
- At the Democratic National Convention in August, pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police outside the Israeli Consulate in the Loop, and 56 people were arrested.
- Congress called the presidents of DePaul and Northwestern to testify over charges of antisemitism, while the Department of Education is probing Northwestern.
Violence and tensions haven't been one-sided. Earlier this month, a suburban man was convicted of a hate crime and sentenced to 53 years for the murder of a Palestinian-American boy in 2023.
The other side: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, put out a statement condemning the shooting:
- "While millions of Americans feel extreme frustration at the sight of the Israeli government slaughtering Palestinian men, women and children on a daily basis with weapons paid for with our taxpayer dollars, political violence is an unacceptable crime and is not the answer."
What's next: Law enforcement has not revealed what they found at the apartment. The U.S. attorney's office and other officials are reviewing the case to determine the charges.