A Jordanian policeman shot dead two US instructors, a South African and a fellow Jordanian at a police academy Monday before being gunned down.

Two Americans and four Jordanians were also wounded in the attack, one critically.

The attacker was a senior co-trainer with the rank of captain and was married with two children, a source said.

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A Jordanian officer has shot dead two US military personnel and a South African at the King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein Training City in Amman (pictured)

The attacker was a senior co-trainer with the rank of captain, officials said. Anti-terrorism forces are seen guarding the entrance to the facility where the shooting took place

The shooting took place today at a US-funded police training centre for Iraqi and Palestinian security forces in Muaqar

Sources close to the family identified the shooter as police captain Anwar Abu Zeid.

'He has no ties with any terrorist organisation like Daesh,' one source told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist Islamic State group.

'The family is in shock and security forces are questioning them about the incident,' said the source, who declined to be named.

The shooting took place today at the US-funded King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein Training City in Muaqar on the outskirts of Amman, in Jordan - a facility used to train Iraqi and Palestinian security forces.

It's not yet clear what motivated the attack, which took place in a cafeteria, according to NBC.

A U.S. official says the two Americans who were killed were part of a State Department police training program.

The official says both were civilians, not military officials.

The United States is in contact with Jordanian authorities about the incident, the U.S. State Department said.

'We have received reports about a security incident at the Jordan International Police Training Center. We are in contact with the appropriate Jordanian authorities, who have offered their full support,' department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

The attack took place on the 10th anniversary of al Qaeda suicide bombings that targeted three Amman luxury hotels and killed dozens of people in the worst militant attack in the history of Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally.

Jordan is a staunch U.S. ally and part of the Washington-led coalition that is trying to defeat Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, both of which border Jordan.

The country hosts several hundred U.S. trainers who are part of a military programme to bolster the kingdom's defences, including the stationing of F16 fighter jets that use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in Syria.

But the kingdom's role in the war against Islamic State has caused disquiet among some Jordanians worried about instability at their borders and fearing that a stepped-up role in the campaign might lead to Islamist attacks in their country.

King Abdullah believes fervently that ultra hardline jihadists pose an existentialist threat to the kingdom.