Police have identified a suspect who they believe shot two Israeli embassy staff dead outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

A man and a woman were shot and killed in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest which is near the museum, an FBI field office and the U.S. attorney's office, according to media reports.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said the shooting is "a criminal act of antisemitic terrorism," Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported.

The suspect, who was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting, was apprehended by the event's security staff, according to D.C. police chief Pamela A. Smith.

Smith said her department has identified the suspect as a 30-year-old man named Elias Rodriguez, who chanted "Free Palestine, Free Palestine" while in custody.

The police department had not received any intelligence about a terrorist threat or a possible hate crime before the shooting, and the suspect was not known to the police, she added.

"Two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington. We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share," U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed on her X account.

FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team had been briefed on the shooting.

"While we're working with [Metropolitan Police Department] to respond and learn more, in the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families," he wrote on X.

Danon called the shooting "a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism."

"Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line," Danon posted on X. "We are confident that the U.S. authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act."

Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro visited the scene of the shooting.

The victims were a young couple who were engaged to be married, according to Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter.

Leiter said he had spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump about the incident.

In a social media post, Trump expressed condolences to the families of the victims, blaming anti-Semitism for the shooting.

(With input from Reuters)