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The suspect chanted "free, free Palestine" while he was being arrested, video showed.
"Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence," Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, said in a post on social media, adding that the suspect was being interviewed by D.C. police in conjunction with the FBI.
The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, a law enforcement source said.
Leiter told reporters Tuesday that the suspect had been inside the the event earlier in the evening, before being escorted out.
"He was inside the event, he walked around inside the event," Leiter said in remarks in Hebrew. "We're not sure exactly what he said while inside the event, but it was enough that he was escorted out of the event. He then went outside and waited for the Israelis to leave, and shot them. Three additional people were able to save themselves and get away."
A woman who attended the event, Katie Kalisher, told CBS News that she encountered the alleged shooter right after hearing gunfire.
"Then this man comes in … but he was covered in rain and just looking really distressed and scared," Kalisher told "CBS Mornings." "We were comforting him because we thought that he was just somebody out in the street looking for a safe place to stay because he heard some gunshots."
She said she talked to him to try to help him relax. "I asked him, 'So, do you like the museum?' And he's kind of playing dumb with me," she said about the interaction. "He goes, 'Oh, what kind of museum is this?' I told him, 'It's a Jewish museum.' He asked, 'Do you think that's why they did this attack' … referring to the rounds that we heard."
She said she told him she didn't think so and asked if he was OK. Then, she said, "He reaches into his bag and pulls out a keffiyeh and says, 'I did it. I did it for Gaza.' And, just starts shouting, 'Free Palestine.'"
What we know about the suspect's background
The suspect didn't appear in an initial search of crime databases and wasn't on law enforcements' radar, Metropolitan Police said.
The suspect was from Chicago, and a large law enforcement presence blocked off roads in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood Thursday morning as officers executed a search believed to be connected to the shooting, CBS News Chicago reported. The FBI confirmed their Chicago field office is conducting "court-authorized law enforcement activity" in that area.
CBS News identified an X account belonging to the suspect. It has a history of posts about pro-Palestine activism, frustration with the media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, inflammatory posts about Israel and discussion of violence for political gain.
The Chicago-based American Osteopathic Information Association said in a statement that he was an employee at the not-for-profit trade association, which focuses on advancing IT use in osteopathic medicine.
"We were shocked and saddened to learn that an AOIA employee has been arrested as a suspect in this horrific crime," said the president and the CEO of the American Osteopathic Association, which represents more than 197,000 osteopathic physicians and osteopathic medical students.
"Both the AOIA and AOA stand ready to cooperate with the investigation in any way we can," said the statement from AOA president Teresa Hubka and CEO Kathleen Creason. "As a physician organization dedicated to protecting the health and sanctity of human life, we believe in the rights of all persons to live safely without fear of violence."
The suspect's LinkedIn account says he had worked for AOIA since July 2024 as an administrative specialist. Prior to that, he worked as an Oral History Researcher at The HistoryMakers, where, according to a now-removed biography page, he prepared "detailed research outlines and biographies of accomplished leaders in the African American community."
The police and the FBI were combing through the suspect's social media, and electronic devices belonging to the suspect have been seized, according to a law enforcement source.
No details on the gun purchase or legality of the weapon were known as of early Thursday morning.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-embassy-staff-shooting-suspect-elias-rodriguez-washington-dc/