Jordanian officer shoots dead two Americans
A Jordanian officer shot dead two US government security contractors, a South African trainer and two Jordanians at a US funded police training facility near Amman on November 9 before being killed in a shootout, Jordanian authorities said.
US President Barack Obama said he was treating the attack at the King Abdullah Training Center, in which three Jordanians and one Lebanese citizen were wounded, very seriously and a full investigation was under way.
The gunman was a police captain, a senior Jordanian official told Reuters. There was no immediate word on the attacker's background or motive. But Jordan is a staunch US ally in the Washington-led campaign against Islamic State militants who hold large areas of neighboring Syria and Iraq, a position Jordanian officials say leaves the kingdom vulnerable to jihadist attacks.
The US Embassy in Amman said two American civilian security contractors and a South African contractor were shot to death, and one slain Jordanian was a translator. It was "premature to speculate on motive at this point" with the investigation proceeding, it said.
A second Jordanian, who had been in critical condition, died later of his wounds, Jordan's government said.
There were differing early reports on the number killed, with three US sources saying eight people died in the attack. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Momani denied that and Jordan's official death toll stands at six.