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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
American gunman killed in Israeli hotel shoot-out
2012-10-05
Not clear if this is terrorist related or whether the perp is just another random nutter, so filed under non-WoT for now.
JERUSALEM - An American man opened fire in an Israeli seaside hotel packed with tourists on Friday after losing his job there, killing one person before being shot dead in a stand-off with security forces.

The firefight erupted in the popular Red Sea resort of Eilat when New York native William Hershkovitz, 23, attacked a security guard at the Leonardo Club hotel and snatched his gun, officials and witnesses said. He then shot dead one of the hotel chefs, whom police identified as 33-year-old Armando Abed.

Police and military counter-terrorism officers swiftly surrounded the hotel, and Hershkovitz barricaded himself in the kitchen. After failed negotiations, there was an exchange of fire and Hershkovitz was shot dead, Eilat police spokesman Lior Ben-Simon said.

Hershkovitz had arrived in Israel in August as part of a five-month Israeli government-sponsored program meant to help foreigners become acquainted with the country, said Israel Way, the company that runs the trip. He and about 80 other participants in the program were working in hotels throughout Eilat.

Hershkovitz on Thursday was told to leave the program after hotel staff had lodged complaints against him.
That sounds like a red flag...
He "had met all admission requirements and his medical record was clean," Israel Way said in a statement. The internationally funded Jewish Agency, another of the program's sponsors, said it had appointed a panel to examine how Hershkovitz had been accepted.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  Obviosuly, the Leonardo Club Hotel does not take kindly to DNC bundlers.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-10-05 15:52  

#1  Ay Pee describes him as from Poughkeepsie, and decidedly odd:

"There was something strange in his smile, but I never saw him as aggressive," Abramovich said.

Another participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of repercussions from the program, said Hershkovitz had issued death threats to other members, but program coordinators ignored repeated complaints.

"He would talk to himself, share dreams that he'd had about random killings and mutilations that he did, he would have statements against Arabs or Nazis or terrorist type movements," the participant added.
Posted by: trailing wife   2012-10-05 14:37  

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