Was Jordan Shooting a Terror Attack?

It remains unclear why a shooter killed five people at a Jordan police training center Monday, a U.S. State Department official said.

The shooter killed two Jordanians, two Americans and a South African. Police then shot and killed the gunman. He was identified as 28-year-old police Captain Anwar Abu Zeid.

The shootings happened on the 10th anniversary of the deadly hotel bombings in Amman, the capital, reported the Washington Post.

Two other Americans were wounded in the attack. The four U.S. citizens attacked were trainers at the Jordan International Police Training Center near Amman. They worked for DynCorp. It is a U.S.-based security company.

The training center is used to train police cadets from the Middle East, the State Department said. Palestinian security forces train there, as well as police officer candidates for duty in Iraq. It opened in 2003.

At the White House, President Barack Obama said the U.S. is taking the attack “very seriously.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited attack victims at a Jordanian hospital.

The Jordanian government is investigating the shooting.

I’m Anna Matteo.

VOA State Department correspondent Pamela Dockins reported this story. VOA's Victoria Macchi and National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

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