Amman, Jordan ? An American diplomat was assassinated Monday in front of his house, gunned down by eight pistol shots in the first such targeted attack on a U.S. diplomat in decades. The killing appeared aimed at undermining a key ally increasingly under pressure as Washington prepares for a showdown with Iraq.

Laurence Foley, a 60-year-old administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, was walking to his car when a single gunman opened fire, police said. The gunman and likely accomplices escaped.

U.S. and Jordanian officials said it was too early to tell whether the attack was terrorist-related. There were no suspects and no one claimed responsibility.

The killing stunned the estimated 3,000-strong American community in Jordan that generally considers Amman safe, despite occasional warnings of security threats.

The U.S. Embassy warned Americans to “remain vigilant.”

At a news conference, U.S. Ambassador Edward Gnehm condemned the shooting as a “cowardly, criminal act” but refused to call it terrorist-related.

Foley, recently honored for 37 years of “superior” service, had been working on projects to deliver clean drinking water and health care to poor Jordanians and provide loans to small businesses.

A U.S. Embassy security official stands guard at the entrance of the house of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley, who was shot to death Monday while leaving his home in Amman, Jordan.

Foley, a native of Boston and father of three, worked for the Peace Corps in India and the Philippines and carried out USAID assignments in Bolivia, Peru, Zimbabwe and Jordan.

Gnehm said there had been no threats or warnings and denied that security had been lax outside the fortresslike walls of the sprawling embassy compound.

The killing of an American official shocked Jordan’s pro-Western government, which has maintained close ties to Washington despite rising public anger over U.S. support for Israel and preparations for war against neighboring Iraq.

Jordan’s information minister, Mohammed Affash Adwan, promised to “deal seriously with this horrible crime,” which he called “an aggression on Jordan and its national security.”

Five U.S ambassadors were killed by terrorists in the 1960s and ’70s, among the scores of American diplomats killed in the line of duty.