Four people were killed in a botched bank robbery before the gunman took his own life in southern Israel. The robbers also took a woman hostage while trying to rob Bank Hapoalim in the city of Beersheba.

According to Reuters, witnesses heard gunfire, and a nearby school went into lockdown as police were involved in a standoff. While an anti-terror police unit broke into the bank and apprehended one of the robbers, another remained in the bank with at least one hostage. Police were able to rescue her unharmed.

"The woman hostage walked out of the bank after the robber shot and killed himself. She was taken for medical treatment" in a hospital in Beersheba, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Israeli media announced three bank employees and a customer among those killed, Reuters reported.

"Four people have been killed and the robber apparently shot himself dead. The scene is now clear," regional police commander Yoram Levy told Israel Radio.

Former Israel police commissioner Assaf Hefetz called this the most violent and fatal bank robbery he could remember occurring in Israel, AFP reported.

"I can't remember a bank robbery that ended with four fatalities," he said.