Amman shooting attack

November 9, 2015

6 (including the perpetrator)[1]

5[1]

Officer Anwar Abu Ubayd

Financial and psychological problems

Attack[edit]

The attack was on personnel at the United States funded Jordan International Police Training Centre (JIPTC), a facility that principally trains Palestinian and Iraqi police officers.[3][6] The facility is located in the Al-Muwaqqar district of the Amman Governorate, and is staffed by contractors from the United States and other countries.[3] On the same day, King Abdullah of Jordan paid a visit to the wounded lying in the King Hussein Medical Center.[7]


According to Jordanian Minister of the Interior Salameh Hammad, the investigation concluded that Abu Ubayd acted alone.[8]

Victims[edit]

Two Jordanians, one South African, and two U.S. nationals were killed in the attack. The wounded included a Lebanese police lieutenant, two U.S. contractors, and three Jordanian police officers.[9]


The two Jordanian translators who were killed were Kamal Malkawi and Awni Aqrabawi.[9] The Americans were James "Damon" Creach (42), from New Tampa, Florida, and Lloyd "Carl" Fields Jr. of Cape Coral, Florida.[10][8] They were employed by DynCorp International. The program they were working on is funded by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.[11]

Perpetrator[edit]

The gunman was identified as 28-year-old police officer Anwar Mohammed Salama al-Saad Abu Zaid Bani Abdu, while Al-Rai newspaper, the government's official outlet, named the assailant as officer Anwar Abu Ubayd.[6] The perpetrator was with the Jordanian criminal investigation department before he was transferred to the police training academy.[2][12]

Source of weapons[edit]

The weapons were stolen from the CIA's Timber Sycamore program.[13]

Possible motive[edit]

On 14 November, the Jordanian government held a press conference to discuss the shooting. According to Minister of Interior Affairs Salameh Hammad, the officer was declared a lone wolf, and the motives of the officer were not related to any terrorist organizations but rather to the "financial and psychological problems of the perpetrator".[4]

King Faisal Air Base shooting

Jordanian intervention in the Syrian civil war