Haiti’s president assassinated by ‘professional’ commandos, 4 killed, 2 arrested, report says

Haiti’s National Police managed to kill four suspects and arrest two others they said were involved in the well-coordinated assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Law enforcement officials in the country say a gunfight between police and additional suspects is ongoing as of early Thursday.

Léon Charles, the country’s top cop, told reporters that police are still hunting for suspects, the New York Times reported.

"Four mercenaries were killed [and] two were intercepted under our control," Charles said, according to the BBC. "Three policemen who had been taken hostage have been recovered. We blocked [the suspects] en route as they left the scene of the crime. Since then, we have been battling with them."

The gunmen were highly trained and spoke Spanish or English, Claude Joseph, the country’s interim prime minister, said, according to the Associated Press. The BBC pointed out that Haiti’s official languages are Creole and French.

Another official in the country called the assassins "well trained professional commandos" and "foreign mercenaries" who carried high-powered guns, were dressed in black and masqueraded as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Details of the attack have been scant and there is no known motive. The suspects killed in the shootout were not identified. Joseph’s office said the attack unfolded at the president’s private home in Port-au-Prince at about 1 a.m. local time and he was fatally wounded. Joseph told the paper that he is running the country.