Assassins Who Killed Moise Allegedly Posed as DEA Agents

Wednesday began with gunmen assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moise; the country's national police chief said the day ended with four suspects dead and two more arrested. "The police [are] still in combat with the assailants," Léon Charles said in a televised briefing, per the Guardian. Of the suspects who remain at large, "They will be killed or captured," he said. Charles added that three police officers who had been held hostage were freed by police, reports NBC News. The AP quotes Haitian ambassador to the US Bocchit Edmond as saying the "well-orchestrated" attack on Moise "was carried out by foreign mercenaries and professional killers" who were pretending to be US Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

The AP notes there is a DEA office in Port-au-Prince from which US agents assist with counternarcotics programs. Haiti has reportedly sought US help with the investigation into Moise's murder, with Edmond saying it's possible some involved could have fled the country by crossing the land border into the Dominican Republic. Moise's wife, Martine, who was wounded in the 1am attack, was on Wednesday afternoon flown to Miami for treatment. The Hill reports the 47-year-old was taken to Jackson Health System’s Ryder Trauma Center. (More Haiti stories.)