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A Jewish man had carried out a shooting rampage at a bank in southern Israel on Monday, in which four people were killed and seven others wounded, local media reported.
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino disclosed that only one shooter was involved in what was described as a "revenge attack" on the bank's management, after being refused a loan to cover his mortgage.
The man reportedly returned to the bank armed with a gun shortly after a heated dispute with the branch manager, shot dead two clerks and two bystanders, and barricaded himself inside the building with a female hostage.
A SWAT unit scrambled to the scene after civilians phoned the police and reported hearing shots.
Israeli security officers cordon off the scene of a bank robbery in Beersheva, southern Israel, on May 20, 2013. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun)
An hour-long standoff ended after the man shot himself dead as the police were readying to storm the building. He released his hostage shortly before turning the gun on himself, and the hostage survived with light injuries.
Another four people were injured and treated on the scene by paramedics. One man, critically injured by gunshots in the chest, was evacuated to the city's hospital, said a rescue service spokesman.
The incident comes amid a controversial austerity plan announced recently by the government that includes tax hikes and sweeping cuts in state subsidies for welfare, education, health and other social services.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, labeling the incident a terror attack.
"I can't remember events like this, at least not in recent years," The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.
"We can't let a terror attack like this happen again," he said.
