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Three killed in east Amman shooting; two arrested

By Rana Husseini - May 05,2016 - Last updated at May 05,2016

AMMAN — Three people were killed and two women were injured in a vehicle ambush and a shooting in east Amman on Thursday in what authorities said was an act of revenge.

Police said two suspects are in custody and two others remain at large.

One was arrested following a brief chase that started in Jweideh neighbourhood and ended in Khalda, according to a Public Security Department (PSD) statement. 

The second suspect turned himself in later in the day, and search is under way for the remaining two, PSD Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The incident occurred near the Criminal Court building when the five victims, all in the same vehicle, left the area and were reportedly cornered by a bus belonging to the suspects, who started firing live rounds at random from automatic rifles, an official source told The Jordan Times.

The driver of the vehicle was hit and the car veered off the street and skidded into a forest area next to a tree, the official source added.

“A police patrol heard the gunshots and rushed to the area to find the ambushed vehicle,” the statement said.

Officers at the scene collected information about the bus and issued an all-points bulletin, the statement added. The bus was later spotted near the 7th Circle by traffic police.

“Another police patrol pursued the bus and managed to arrest one suspect, but three managed to flee,” the PSD statement added.

The three suspects headed to Khalda area and barricaded themselves in a building there, a second source told The Jordan Times.

Police briefly cordoned off the area and halted traffic to protect motorists, the second sources said.

Police said the shooting incident was “an act of vengeance by the suspects in relation to a murder of one of their relatives in 2014”.

A medical source told The Jordan Times that both women were rushed to Totanji Hospital.

The two victims are currently receiving treatment, and their condition is listed as fair.

Head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine Kais Koussous told The Jordan Times that an autopsy is expected to be performed on the three other victims on Friday.

 

“We have three bodies in the morgue but their autopsy will be performed tomorrow [Friday] in the presence of the Criminal Court prosecutor,” Koussous said.

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