Security forces tracked the three men accused of opening fire on mourners at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan to an abandoned house, where the suspects chose to shoot rather than surrender.

Jordanian security forces arrested the three men on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, over the attack on Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Church that killed nine people and wounded dozens, the Public Security Directorate said.

Officers took the men into custody after a dawn shootout at an abandoned house in the village of Al-Jadida. The village sits in Karak governorate, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Hammoud and roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Amman.

The directorate said officers located the three before dawn inside the house, where they refused to surrender and opened fire. All three suspects suffered wounds, and no member of the security forces was hurt. The suspects had met their “just fate,” the directorate said, declaring that terrorism has no place in the country.

Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told state television in a phone interview that investigators identified the three early and that the security services used every means available to run them down. “The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act,” he said.

Al-Faraya said the suspects resisted hard before they were subdued and taken into custody with severe injuries. Authorities will hold to account anyone involved, he added, and are “examining every factor that leads youth toward extremism.”

King Abdullah II wrote on X after the arrests: “We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated.” He praised the security forces for chasing the suspects “to the very end,” and directed authorities to respond with “an iron fist” against what he called the outlaws of Islam and anyone attempting to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people.

Two Brothers and a Relative

Public Security Director Maj. Gen. Obeidallah al-Maaytah identified the suspects on Monday as brothers Hazza Zaidan Mohammed and Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and their relative by marriage, Ahmad Sami Hussein. The directorate’s own statement did not name the three, and it pointed to no links to any Islamist militant group.

The three lived near Hammoud and were extremists who settled on the attack as they trailed the funeral procession, according to authorities. Al-Faraya said investigators found no links to other extremist cells or organizations. No group has claimed responsibility, and no armed group has been accused. A public prosecutor has barred the publication of investigation details.

The attackers held to a takfiri ideology — an extremist outlook that brands even other Muslims unbelievers — according to media reports that cited Jordanian government and security sources. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan has pinned the bloodshed on terrorist ideology and “blind extremism” and ordered three days of national mourning.

Shooting From a Blue Pickup

The gunmen reached the church in the village of Hammoud in a blue pickup truck on Friday, Oct. 23, during a funeral service, according to authorities. One wore a mask and carried a Kalashnikov rifle, while the other two left their faces uncovered and carried handguns.

They fired near the main entrance, where mourners had gathered. Khalid al-Mdanat, who was at the church, said the attack lasted around 15 minutes. “Some [people at the funeral] were taking cover, some were cradling the dead, others were holding their sons close, some were grabbing their children and fleeing, while others were holding onto their friends who were with them at the church,” he said. He added that the gunmen fled in a pick-up truck, “firing as they went.” As many as 200 mourners were inside and around the church, according to one witness, who said most of the victims were between 50 and 70 years old.

The attackers came with ammunition in bulk, reloaded more than once and shot some victims a second time where they lay, according to Arabic-language media reports.

A lawyer who survived the shooting, Nasser al-Burqan, said an attacker standing about 2 meters (6.5 feet) from him leveled a handgun and pulled the trigger. His son, also at the service, called later from a hospital, shot in the leg.

Casualty counts shifted through the weekend as the wounded were treated. The Health Ministry counted 40 injured as of Oct. 24, with 27 still hospitalized, and officials put the number wounded at 34 on Oct. 26.

Hours after the arrests on Monday, Oct. 26, Jordan’s air force struck positions in southern Syria held by what the military called terrorist groups linked to the attackers. Syria’s civil defense said seven people were killed, six in Daraa province and one in Sweida. Al-Faraya has said all three attackers were Jordanian and that there was no sign of outside contacts.

Eight Graves Beside St George’s

Mourners buried eight of the nine victims beside St George’s church on Sunday, Oct. 25, at a funeral led by Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III. They were Dr. Maher Zureiqat, Ihab al-Halsa, Dr. Fadi al-Halsa, Dr. Khaled al-Halsa, Dr. Asim al-Burqan, Alaa al-Masarwa, Marwan Khaitan and Mazen al-Qassous. The ninth victim, Dr. Mohammed al-Qassous, was laid to rest near Amman on Monday.

Theophilos III visited wounded survivors on Sunday and condemned the attack as a “vile, cowardly, and bloody act.” The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem asked that church bells ring at noon Saturday, Oct. 24, throughout Jordan to remember the dead. They condemned the killing of worshippers during a burial and said such violence would not fracture Jordanian society.

King Abdullah II traveled to Karak and visited the wounded at Prince Ali Military Hospital. He ordered a review of the kingdom’s security agencies’ response to terrorist attacks and vowed the harshest penalties for those responsible.

“Those who imagined that treacherous bullets could divide Jordanians have been thwarted by our resilience and unity,” the king said.

Pope Leo XIV used his Angelus address on Oct. 25 to pray for the dead and the injured and to express his nearness to a country long known for coexistence between faiths.

Government spokesman Mohammad Momani said the whole of Jordanian society comes under attack whenever any Jordanian is targeted, whatever their faith, and he pressed the point that Karak is home to one of the country’s minority Christian populations. Hammoud is one of the small Christian communities scattered across the governorate. Christians number about 300,000 of Jordan’s 11.5 million people.