Israel: Man kills 4 after bank loan refused

The assailant, identified by media reports as a former paramilitary border policeman, killed himself after police raided the Bank Hapoalim branch in the southern city of Beersheba to free his hostages.

Speaking to Army Radio, internal security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said: “It appears that we are talking about a lone individual who came to the bank in the morning hours, sought cover for a debt, a loan, and did not get it.”

After also finding that he could not draw cash from the ATM, the man “came back with a pistol and shot dead four people … bank employees and customers,” Mr Aharonovitch said.

The minister added: “He took a hostage, held her for close to an hour or more. The moment the police forces burst in, he killed himself.”

Police initially described the incident as a robbery, but later said the assailant appeared to have known his victims and shot them without demanding money.

Witnesses quoted by Israeli media said the gunman first killed the bank guard and then shot three people who were lying on the floor, checking the pulse of one of them to make sure he was dead.

Police initially said two gunmen had entered the bank and that one had been apprehended, but later said they were still investigating whether the second man was an accomplice.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a “great tragedy” for Israel, where soldiers carrying weapons are a common sight but gun laws are strict for private individuals.

“It is not a common event in Israel. An attack like this must not [be allowed] to recur,” Mr Netanyahu said.