Prison keys, uniform, cartridge found in shooter’s cell
US-born Samuel Sheinbein was killed on Sunday after opening fire and injuring five guards
A prison guard’s uniform, a gun cartridge, and a set of keys to the cells in his block were discovered in the cell of Samuel Sheinbein, a prisoner who was gunned down by guards after going on a shooting rampage on Sunday in the Rimonim prison.
The items were found by the Israel Prison Service and were subsequently sent to the police unit investigating the incident.
Sheinbein, who was serving a life sentence for the 1997 murder of an acquaintance in Maryland, opened fire around 3 p.m. on Sunday, injuring three guards before holing himself up in a cell. Two more officers who responded to the scene were also wounded in an ensuing shootout.
One of the guards was critically injured and another was listed in serious condition. The other three sustained light to moderate injuries.
Two separate investigations, one by the Prison Service and another by the police, have been endeavoring to answer a flurry of questions surrounding how Sheinbein acquired the weapon and managed to bring it into the tightly guarded prison.
An initial investigation revealed that Sheinbein had gone on furlough two weeks before the shooting and had arranged to purchase a gun from an arms dealer. Sheinbein then attempted to rob the gun from the dealer, but was not successful. He was arrested by police, who immediately returned him to jail.
Since then, Sheinbein attended two more hearings regarding his case. Police suspect that while away from prison during those hearings, Sheinbein acquired a firearm and smuggled it into his cell.
Prison Service officials insisted that Sheinbein did not receive the weapon from guards within the prison.
Initial reports indicated that the suspect had grabbed the gun from a guard, but officials ruled that out, saying that guards did not carry weapons in the cell blocks.
Sheinbein was killed after barricading himself inside a cell for over an hour. After he shot at security forces, counter terror officers returned fire, critically injuring him, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
