Gunmen opened fire on a church funeral in Jordan. Nine people were killed.

What happened

On the afternoon of Friday, October 23, 2026, a funeral service had just started at St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud, a small, mostly Christian village in Jordan’s Karak governorate, about 75 miles southwest of Amman. A priest at the church told AFP that between 70 and 200 people were there when shooting started outside.

Security-camera footage aired on Jordan’s state TV shows three armed men approaching the church. Two appear to carry handguns and a third a rifle. They fire from the walkway, take cover behind trees and a low wall, then run toward the entrance, according to Reuters, which verified the video. Other footage shows the attackers firing at a group of men trying to get away from the building. Witnesses said the shooting went on for several minutes.

Inside, people dropped to the floor or hid. Priest Theodoros Soueiss told Reuters he and others ordered everyone to get down. “The gunfire was indiscriminate, and you never knew where a bullet might land,” he said. One survivor hid behind a pillar. Another, lawyer Nasser Al-Burqan, told Reuters one attacker pointed a handgun at him through a window from about six feet away and fired. He was cut by flying glass.

Nine people were killed and about 40 were wounded, according to Jordan’s state news agency and health ministry. Jordanian officials called it an act of extremist terrorism. On Monday, October 26, Jordanian security forces arrested three men, two brothers and their brother-in-law, in connection with the attack, Al Jazeera and The Hindu reported. Any accusations against them are allegations. Eight of the victims were buried beside the church on Sunday under heavy security.

Security-camera footage of this attack is graphic, so it isn’t on this page. Subscribe and we’ll email it to you for team training.

What safety teams can take from it

• Treat funerals like a Sunday service, not a side event. Funerals are announced in public obituaries with the time and place, draw big emotional crowds, and often happen on weekdays when the safety team isn’t scheduled. Put them on the team calendar and staff them.
• Someone has to be outside. This attack started on the walkway and in the parking area before the gunmen reached the doors. A greeter or team member watching the lot and the approach is your best chance at early warning.
• Be able to lock the doors in seconds. The attackers ran for the entrance. Know who locks which doors, make sure they lock fast from the inside, and practice it.
• Teach the room what to do. Clergy here told people to get down, and people used pillars for cover. Ushers and leaders should know how to call out “get down,” move people away from doors and windows, and point them to exits that lead away from the gunfire.
• Plan for a lot of wounded at once. Forty people were hurt. Keep bleeding-control kits where people gather and train members in tourniquets and wound packing. EMS may not get to you for a while.