In my professional opinion, the behavior of the man who murdered four people at a Beersheba bank on Monday and then turned the gun on himself stems from a state of stress and depression combined with a difficult financial situation and a history of previous failures. In such situations, people who are angry and have violent inclinations tend to express their anger and frustration through violence, particularly when they possess a weapon.

This was a man whose behavioral repertoire was characterized by violent actions in the past and who served in the Border Police, which involved violence and active use of firearms. People with such histories tend to unload their feelings through violence toward others.

This certainly does not apply to everyone, and certainly not every individual experiencing depression will behave in this manner. Most people have the ability to restrain themselves, but there are individuals who lack the ability to think about the long term, and who seek an immediate outlet for their rage. These individuals are very dangerous, both to others and to themselves.

The first recorded case of this type of behavior can be found in the Bible, in the book of Genesis. Cain felt slighted, and, driven by feelings of discomfort and personal failure, murdered his brother. As in cases in which men murder their wives for spurning them, there are people who seek revenge and an outlet for their feelings of rage and frustration. These people possess a faulty set of values and a very low restraint threshold. In this context we can recall Moshe Silman, who in a situation of depression and anger set himself on fire during a social justice protest in 2011.

In the case of Itamar Alon, the man who went on a rampage at the bank on Monday, he was fully aware of his actions and went on a premeditated killing spree with the aim of exacting revenge. His actions served his need for vengeance. Everything that he did was his choice, and had he been apprehended alive, he would have deserved the fullest penalty of the law.

Professor Yaakov Rofe is a psychologist specializing in mental disease and a former head of the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University.