The DC campus of Georgetown University also was temporarily locked down, according to CBS.

“When we went to leave the cops and security were downstairs and told us we can’t leave,” said one student, who was on lockdown in their building for over an hour.

The Capital Jewish Museum like many other Jewish institutions in the US has struggled with security issues amid rising antisemitism.

“Jewish institutions all around town, all around the country, are concerned about security due to some very scary incidents that some institutions have faced and because of a climate of antisemitism,” executive director Beatrice Gurwitz told NBC News in a separate news report before the attack on Wednesday.

The museum recently received a grant to upgrade its security in part, she said, because of a new exhibit on LGBT pride.

“We recognise that there are threats associated with this as well,” Ms Gurwitz said. “And again, we want to ensure that our space is as welcoming and secure for everybody who comes here while we are exploring these stories.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee posted to X to call the attack a “horrific act of terror that the people of Israel are waking up to this morning”.