Southern District Police chief Major-General Yarom Halevy admitted that officers were wrong to fire their weapons at a toilet where Itamar Alon held a hostage during Monday's standoff at a Beersheba bank. Alon killed four people in a wild rampage after having his credit denied.
At a special Knesset House Committee discussion, Halevy said police arrived at the scene within four minutes of the first call. Initially, they were under the impression a robbery had gone wrong.
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According to Halevy, at one point an officer fired at a plant inside the bank to indicate to the shooter that police were on the scene.
Later in his testimony he admitted that officers had fired at a toilet where the shooter held a woman hostage .
- Asked what would have happened had the hostage been hit as a result, he replied: "There was a failure. This shooting was unwarranted and the point was raised during the inquiry."