An Israeli man entered Hapoalim bank in the Israeli city of Bersheeba on Monday, engaged in a gunfight which killed four people, took a hostage and then turned his gun on himself.
Talking to AP, Israeli police spokesperson Mickey Rosenfeld said that the shootings happened inside the bank and that the man has been identified as being in his 40s and is a resident of Bersheeba.
Israeli TV crews soon gathered round the area, showing the bank cordened off and surrounded by a significant police presence.
"We are not convinced entirely at this point we are talking about a robbery or an attempted robbery but it could be that we are talking about an incident where, from the start, the murderer came in with an intention to shoot", national police chief Yohanan Danino told reporters outside the scene of the crime.
According to Rosenfeld, after the gunfight broke out, the man took a hostage but killed himself before the standoff could reach a head. The hostage was not significantly wounded, AP reported.
