Emil Sturman

Emil Sturman, an engineer with the Shah-Ar project, was one of three employees working on the top-secret project who were involved in acts of mass murder.

Returning, to his home in New Jerusalem on 27 June 2146, Sturman removed a pulse weapon from his bedroom and began to shoot people in his complex at random. Armoured police surrounded Sturman's apartment but he took his own life before he could be arrested. Coming barely a week after a similar killing spree in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Yakov Kanter immediately imposed a total news blackout throughout Fortress Israel on the investigation of the murders.

Sturman was a respected specialist in sub-atomic particle acceleration, a cornerstone of the Shah-Ar project. The Association of Concerned Scientists issued a statement soon after the shooting, demanding to know if the incidents had anything to do with the mysterious project. The attack was completely out of character, and attributed to psychosis caused by exposure to radiation or other substances while working at the Tel Aviv Propulsion Lab.

The tragedy -- as well as similar atrocities carried out by Yussl Jacobs and Chaya Arnowitz -- ultimately led the Israeli premier to disband the Shah-Ar project in October 2146.