Police: 5 killed, 7 injured in gang shooting in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Gang members fatally shot five people and injured seven others in Haiti’s capital in a surprise attack, authorities said Thursday.

No one has been arrested following the shooting that occurred late Wednesday in the southern neighbourhood of Carrefour-Feuilles.

Port-au-Prince Police Commissioner Joel Casseus told The Associated Press that four people died at the scene and a fifth at the hospital. It is unclear what prompted the shooting.

Police said officers exchanged gunfire with suspected gang members when they arrived to pick up the bodies on Thursday morning.

Authorities urged people to contact police if they had any information about the incident as newly appointed Prime Minister Jean-Michel Lapin promised to take unspecified action.

“What happened…is unacceptable,” he said. “We send our sympathies to everyone that has been a victim of the state of insecurity that has been developing in the country for a long time.”