Haiti's President 'Jovenel Moïse' Assassinated, First Lady Shot in Armed Attack

On Wednesday, Gunmen killed Haitian President Jovenel Moise and shot his wife in their home, inflicting more chaos on the unstable Caribbean country, according to the country’s acting prime minister, Claude Joseph.

In press statements, Joseph confirmed the attack occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, and some of the unidentified assailants spoke Spanish.

"First Lady Martine Moïse was wounded," he noted.

Joseph condemned the president's killing as a "hateful, inhumane and barbaric act."

"The country's security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti," he added. "Democracy and the republic will win."

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti said it was restricting U.S. staff to its compounds and that the embassy would be closed Wednesday because of ''an ongoing security situation.''

The White House described the attack as "horrific" and "tragic" and said it was still gathering information on what happened. U.S. President Joe Biden will be briefed later Wednesday by his national security team, spokesperson Jen Psaki said during an interview on MSNBC.

Haiti's economic, political and social woes have deepened recently, with gang violence spiking heavily in Port-au-Prince, inflation spiraling and food and fuel becoming scarcer at times in a country where 60% of the population makes less than $2 a day. These troubles come as Haiti still tries to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew that struck in 2016.

In recent months, opposition leaders demanded the killed president to step down, arguing that his term legally ended in February 2021. Moise and supporters maintained that his term began when he took office in early 2017, following a chaotic election that forced the appointment of a provisional president to serve during a year-long gap.