An American man who killed an Eilat hotel worker last month committed suicide before being shot in a firefight with an anti-terrorism squad, Israeli police officials told Xinhua Thursday.

On Oct. 5, William Hershkovitz, 23, who had been let go a day earlier from a hotel management internship at the Leonardo Hotel, shot dead a 33-year-old kitchen employee after grabbing a security guard's gun in a scuffle.

Members of Eilat's Lotar anti-terror squad locked down the hotel a short time later.

Hershkovitz, who had barricaded himself in the kitchen, opened fire at police negotiators, until the team stormed in, police said.

"He was found to have committed suicide before he was shot, according to the autopsy," police spokesman Superintendent Mickey Rosenfeld told Xinhua.