An US-born inmate was shot dead by security forces at an Israeli prison on Sunday evening, after he seized a weapon and wounded three wardens and an officer, local media reported.

The prisoner was identified as Samuel Sheinbein, 34, an American-Israeli who had served two-thirds of a 24-year sentence for a murder he committed in the United States in 1997.

Sheinbein opened fire at some wardens, seriously wounding one and slightly wounding two others, while he was being transferred to another detention block at the Rimonim Prison in central Israel, The Jerusalem Post said.

An anti-terror unit and a prison riot-control squad were soon deployed to the scene, and Sheinbein wounded an officer before being shot dead, prison authorities said.

An investigation has been launched to find out how Sheinbein obtained the weapon, the authorities added.

Following the 1997 murder, Sheinbein fled to Israel and was granted citizenship through his father, an Israeli expatriate, to evade extradition. However, an Israeli court in 1999 sentenced him to 24 years in prison amid angry protests in the United States.