‘Gendarmerie officer critical after Maan drive-by shooting’

AMMAN — A Gendarmerie officer, who was shot on Sunday while on duty at a court in Maan, 220km south of the capital, is still hospitalised at King Hussein Medical Centre (KHMC) in critical condition, official sources said Monday.

The injured officer was with three other gendarmes at 8:30pm on Sunday when they were attacked by the occupants of an unidentified vehicle, Gendarmerie Public Relations Department Director Lt. Col. Ahmad Abu Hammad said.

“Three men were inside the vehicle, and one of them fired at our officers with an automatic rifle,” Abu Hammad told The Jordan Times.

One of the officers received multiple gunshot wounds to different parts of his body and a second was shot in the leg, according to the official.

“The officer with multiple wounds was listed in critical condition and is currently being treated at the KHMC in Amman,” Abu Hammad said, adding that the second officer has been treated and discharged from hospital.

A statement issued by the Gendarmerie Department said a search is ongoing for the three suspects and an all-points bulletin was issued with the vehicle’s description.

“We still do not have a motive for the shooting and believe they were individuals with previous criminal records, but we are certain that we will find them soon,” Abu Hammad noted.

A Maan resident who declined to give his name claimed that only one man “carried out the attack against the gendarmes to avenge his deceased brother, a wanted criminal killed in a police shoot-out recently”.