Findings contradict original police reports that William Hershkovitz was killed by anti-terror police when he opened fire on them.
By BEN HARTMANIDF soldiers guard the area near Eilat hotel 390(photo credit: REUTERS)
An American study abroad student who opened fire in an Eilat hotel, killing a coworker before anti-terror police stormed the building, took his own life as police closed in, according to the results of an internal police inquiry released on Tuesday.In the days after the October 5 shooting, police said William Hershkovitz, a 23- year-old native of Poughkeepsie, New York, was shot to death by officers of the police counterterrorism unit after he opened fire on them as they moved into to arrest him.On Tuesday, the national police headquarters said: “The operations branch has presented the Police inspector- general with the findings of a special task force set up to examine how the police operated on that day and how they collaborated with IDF anti-terror forces.“The findings of the investigation indicate that the hotel worker William Hershkovitz took his own life by shooting himself during the raid by the anti-terror unit.”Hershkovitz was in Israel as a part of the Israel Way program.Supported by the Jewish Agency, the program brings Jews from around the world for volunteer work, study and internships. Police said Hershkovitz was fired from his internship at the hotel kitchen the day before he returned and shot and killed his former manager, Armando Abed, from Mi’ilya, a Christian village in the Western Galilee.Hershkovitz did not try to take hostages or make any demands while holed up in the hotel kitchen, police said.
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