A Palestinian gunman shot and wounded six people near a Roman amphitheater in Jordan's capital on Wednesday, authorities said. According to the AP, the gunman shot himself in the head as he was being chased by police, and was in critical condition, Jordan's state minister for information, Nasser Judeh, said. The six victims were not seriously injured, he added.
A police official identified the assailant as Thaer al-Weheidi, 19, a resident of Baqaa camp, the largest of 11 Palestinian refugee settlements in Jordan. Judeh said the victims included four Lebanese, an Arab-Israeli woman and their Jordanian bus driver. Initial reports indicated all six were Lebanese.
Judeh described the night-time shooting as a "criminal'' incident, adding it did not appear terrorist-related. "The police investigation is still under way, but preliminary information points to the fact that this is an isolated incident,'' Judeh said.
Witnesses said some Israeli tourists were nearby at the time of the shooting, but a police official dismissed that as a rumour.
Earlier, the police official said investigators were unsure if the shooter was affiliated with any armed groups. But he later said al-Weheidi has a criminal record and that he was implicated in previous cases of attempted murder and looting.
