Jordan policeman kills two US nationals, one S. African

AMMAN, Jordan

Three security instructors -- two Americans and one South African -- were shot dead Monday by a Jordanian police officer at the U.S.-funded Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC) outside the capital, Amman.

Jordanian government spokesman and Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said the assailant also wounded two other U.S. nationals and four Jordanians, with one of the latter sustaining “serious” injuries.

Momani added that the assailant -- whose name has yet to be made public -- had been killed by his fellow officers in the immediate wake of the attack.

The spokesman went on to note that an investigation into the incident had since been launched by authorities.

The center is primarily used to train Palestinian security forces, according to State Department spokesman John Kirby. The training program has been running since 2008 and is operated and funded by the State Department, he added.

Kirby said that the deceased Americans were “trainer-monitors” working for Dyn Corporation on a State Department contract.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he is taking the incident “very seriously”, and emphasized that Washington will work closely with Jordanian officials to determine what transpired.

Notably, Monday’s shooting occurred exactly 10 years to the day after a series of coordinated bomb attacks struck three luxury hotels in Amman, killing dozens.

Responsibility for the 2005 attack was claimed by the now defunct al-Qaeda in Iraq whose members have largely gone on to form Daesh.