Haitian police were yesterday hunting for more gunmen behind the assassination of President Jovenel Moise after killing or capturing six “mercenaries,” with the nation under a state of siege.
Police engaged in a shootout with the assailants in Portau-Prince on Wednesday after the overnight attack on Moise’s home. Four gunmen were killed, and two more captured, while others in the hit-squad are at large.
Officials have not identified the suspects or said what their motives were for shooting dead Moise and wounding his wife Martine.
The killing comes days after Moise appointed Ariel Henry, a French-trained neurosurgeon, as prime minister. Henry, 71, is close to the opposition.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph declared a national state of siege and said he was now in charge.
Magistrate Carl Henry Destin told the Nouvelliste newspaper that the president’s body had 12 bullet holes in it, from large caliber rifles and smaller 9mm weapons, to the forehead, chest, hips and abdomen.
“The president’s office and bedroom were ransacked. We found him lying on his back, blue pants, a white shirt smeared with blood, his mouth open, his left eye gouged out,” he said.
Moise’s wife was out of danger, Joseph said.
Their daughter Jomarlie was in the home during the attack but hid in a bedroom, Destin said.
A maid and another domestic staff member had been tied up by the commandos, who were foreigners.
