Moments after a burst of gunfire was heard outside the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington on Wednesday night, a breathless man in a blue suit rushed into the building.

Paige Siegel, a 30-year-old attorney and supporter of Israel who was attending a networking event at the facility, watched security let him in with several other people. She sat on a bench near the young man with the neatly trimmed beard and asked if he was okay, believing him to be seeking refuge from the unfolding violence. A friend of hers brought him a cup of water.

As the minutes ticked by, Siegel told The Washington Post in an interview, a dark thought popped into her head: “What if he did it?”

But she pushed it aside. The man appeared shaken up and kept muttering about calling the police, she said. She to

See Full Page