Looked Distressed, Witnesses Mistakenly Helped Man Who Killed Israeli Staff

Elias Rodriguez, 30, appeared visibly distressed and disoriented when he entered the museum after Wednesday night's shooting.

Washington:

After the street outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC echoed with sounds of gunshots, witnesses offered water and help to a man they thought was a traumatised bystander. Minutes later, they learnt he was the man who allegedly shot dead the two Israeli diplomats.

Elias Rodriguez, 30, appeared visibly distressed and disoriented when he entered the museum after Wednesday night's shooting. Witnesses rushed to help him, unaware he had just gunned down Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, outside the American Jewish Committee's ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception.

"He was soaking wet, in a state of shock," Yoni Kalin, who was inside the event, told The NY Post. "We just thought he was a bystander."

Sara Marinuzzi, another witness, said Rodriguez entered the museum shortly after the shooting. "We all figured he was a witness [because] he was so shaken up," she said. He stayed with the group for 10-15 minutes as they believed they were sheltering alongside a fellow survivor.

Witnesses said they acted on instinct. "When a man comes running in distress, the immediate instinct is to help," said Ms Marinuzzi. "And that's what we did."

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