Two Americans, a South African and two Jordanians fatally shot by Jordanian officer who was later shot dead, as at least four other people were injured

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

At least five people, including two Americans, two Jordanians and a South African, were killed after a Jordanian police officer opened fire at a US-backed police training facility near Amman, before being shot dead himself.

At least four other people, including two more Americans, were injured in the attack, according to US officials.

The attack took place at the Jordan International Police Training Center in al-Muwaqqar, on the outskirts of Amman.

Mohammed Momani, a Jordanian government spokesman, confirmed the deaths of the Americans and South African and said one of the two wounded Americans was in a serious condition. Jordanian officials said policemen on hand shot and killed the attacker during a shootout.



The two Jordanians who were killed include a translator and police officer, while the South African victim was a contractor. The Jordanian government said four of those injured – two Americans and two Jordanians – were receiving medical treatment near the training facility. Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited those injured in the shooting at the military King Hussein medical centre in west Amman.

The Jordanian and American governments gave contradictory accounts of the shooting, leaving some details of the attack unclear. Earlier on Monday, Reuters reported that three anonymous US government sources said eight people died in the attack, but Jordanian government officials quickly denied that report.

At a US State Department briefing on Monday afternoon, spokesman John Kirby refused to confirm how many people were killed during the attack on the training centre, or to even confirm remarks made by President Obama earlier Monday.

“I think the farthest I’m comfortable going right now is saying we understand several people were killed, but I’m reticent to give a whole number right now,” said Kirby.

“We’ve seen reports that the shooter may have been wearing a Jordanian uniform,” said Kirby, about a statement made by Obama earlier Monday. Kirby refused to confirm that detail, and said: “I won’t get ahead of the investigation.”

Jordanians are leading the investigation with assistance from the US.

DynCorp, a US State Department contractor, trains Palestinian police at the facility. The company confirmed that the two Americans killed, called “monitors” by the State Department, were company employees. DynCorp refused to provide further details on the shooting citing privacy concerns, in a statement to the Associated Press.

President Obama addressed the shooting before a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“We take this very seriously and we’ll be working closely with the Jordanians to determine exactly what happened, but at this stage I want to just let everyone know this is something we’re paying close attention to and at the point where the families have been notified. Obviously our deepest condolences will be going out to them.”

Jordanian authorities have used the police training centre to provide training to thousands of security services from across the Arab world, having trained more than 68,000 Iraqi, 10,000 Palestinian and several thousand Libyan police forces over the past seven years.

The incident took place on the 10th anniversary of a series of coordinated attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq, and seemed to bear a similarity to incidents in Afghanistan in which guns were turned on US trainers.

Initial reports in the Jordanian media gave contradictory accounts, with some suggesting that the shooting may have been “accidental” and others reporting an exchange of fire between the Americans and the Jordanian officer.

The government-run al-Rai newspaper identified the gunman as Anwar Bani Abdu, nicknamed “Anwar Abu Zeid”, a veteran police officer who had served as a captain in the criminal investigation department before being transferred to the training academy.



The daily Jordan Times quoted an official as saying: “It is yet not known whether the shooting was because of a dispute between the policeman and the contractors.”