Haitian Gang Opens Fire in Town at 3am, Killing 70

Prime minister decries 'odious crime'
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 4, 2024 3:05 PM CDT
Haitian Gang Opens Fire in Town at 3am, Killing 70
Pedestrians walk past an armored police vehicle in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday.   (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

At least 70 people, three of them infants, were killed in a small town in Haiti when gang members with automatic rifles opened fire on residents, United Nations officials said Friday. At least 50 others were reported to be seriously injured. The gang set dozens of houses and vehicles on fire, causing 3,000 people to flee the town at 3am. "We are horrified by Thursday's gang attacks," a UN spokesperson said, per Reuters. "This odious crime against defenseless women, men and children is not only an attack against victims but against the entire Haitian nation," Prime Minister Garry Conille posted on X.

Police said they wounded two gang members in a gunfight. The government said Friday it sent medical supplies and security reinforcements to the town in the Artibonite department, per the Washington Post, about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince. Attacks have been spreading through rural areas, per the New York Times, complicating the assignment of the international security force led by Kenya that arrived in Haiti in June to combat gang violence. "You will not break our resolve," Conille told gang members in his post. "You will not subdue this people who have always fought for their dignity and freedom." (More Haiti stories.)

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