Scene of bank shooting in Beersheba
Photo: Zeev Trachtman
Major-General Yoram Halevy
Photo: Tel Aviv Police
Police admit unwarranted shooting during bank standoff
Southern District Police chief surveys officers' handling of Beersheba bank shooting which claimed lives of four people in special Knesset discussion
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."
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