Latest after 2 Israeli Embassy officials shot dead near Capital Jewish Museum

Shortly after the shooting, a man who “looked very scared” came inside. “We thought that he was just in the street … and maybe [he] came into the building because he wanted to be somewhere safe,” she said.

Kalisher said that in an attempt to calm him down, she and others began helping the man and talking to him. When he asked what kind of museum they were inside, she told him it was a Jewish museum, she said. The suspect then appeared to be confused.

“He asked me, ‘Do you think that that’s why they did it?’” referring to the gunshots that they had heard.

“It took me a second,” she said, adding that she told him, “I don’t think that’s why, I’m sure it’s unrelated.”

She said that the man then pulled out a keffiyeh, a traditional black and white scarf worn by Arabic communities that has been linked with the pro-Palestinian movement, revealing himself to be the suspected shooter.

“He pulls out his keffiyeh and he says, ‘I did it. I did it for Gaza. Free, free Palestine,’” before the police came inside and arrested the man, Kalisher said. Police identified the suspect as Elias Rodriguez.

Kalisher added that afterward, the crowd was moved away from the windows and doors for safety while police officers swarmed inside with guns. “It just felt really surreal,” she said.