Two U. S. trainers killed in Jordan
Policeman kills 3 others, wounds 7 before being shot dead
AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian police officer opened fire Monday at a regional police training center in the Jordanian capital, killing two Americans, two Jordanians and a South African before being shot dead, a Jordanian government spokesman said.
A U. S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said at one point that the death toll had risen to eight, but Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani disputed that figure.
The attack also wounded seven people, including two Americans, three Jordanians and a Lebanese, Momani said.
He said authorities are investigating whether the attacker’s motive was personal or political.
This year, Jordan has taken a high- profile role in the fight against extremists, including the Islamic State group, which controls large areas of neighboring Iraq and Syria. Jordan intensified airstrikes in Syria in retaliation after the death of one of its pilots, Lt. Muath al- Kaseasbeh, who was captured and killed by Islamic State militants after his F- 16 went down in northern Syria.
There has been concern that militants could carry out attacks on Jordanian soil.
The government did not release the identity of the attacker, but a former member of parliament said authorities told him that the shooter was 29- year- old Anwar Abu Zaid. The former parliamentarian, Suleiman Saed, is a relative of Abu Zaid.
Abu Zaid’s brother, Fadi, said Anwar was mentally stable and “not an extremist at all.”
He said his brother, a father of two, joined the security forces at age 18, had been working at the training center for several months and had left for work as usual on Monday morning. He said the family will not accept Anwar Abu Zaid’s body until authorities release more information.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said the attacker had been dressed in a military uniform.
“We take this very seriously and will be working closely with the Jordanians to determine exactly what happened,” Obama said during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“At this stage, I want to just let everyone know that 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,” Obama said.
After the shooting, the U. S. Embassy in Jordan issued a statement urging Americans to avoid the area “for the time being.”
A U. S. official said the Americans who were killed or wounded in the attack were part of a State Department police training program. The official said all were civilians but declined to identify them. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the State Department, said the American victims had worked for DynCorp, a private security company, and were overseeing the curriculum of the program, which has been in operation since 2008.
Momani said the Jordanian killed in the attack was a civilian employee at the center.
He said the wounded were being treated at Jordan’s main military hospital and were visited by King Abdullah II.
About two hours after the shooting, dozens of armored vehicles were moving in and out of the training center on the outskirts of Amman. The center was established in 2003 and has trained 53,000 police officers from Iraq, 8,000 from the Palestinian territories and groups from other Arab countries, according to its website.
“We have full confidence in our security measures, and the investigation will uncover the motivation behind what happened,” Momani said. In an earlier statement, he referred to the shooting as a crime.
Information for this article was contributed by Omar Akour, Hamza al- Soud, Karin Laub, Bradley Klapper and Josh Lederman of The Associated Press; and by Rana F. Sweis, Dan Bilefsky, Eric Schmitt, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Michael R. Gordon, Diaa Hadid and Rick Gladstone of The New York Times.