Two Haitian Americans were among the suspects arrested in the assassination of Haiti’s president on Wednesday.
According to Haitian police, U.S. citizens James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent were arrested with 15 Columbian nationals. Both men were born in Haiti.
After earlier claiming seven suspects were killed, Léon Charles, chief of Haiti's National Police, now claims that only three other suspects were killed by police, saying eight others are on the run and identifying all of the dead and at-large suspects as Colombian.
'Foreigners came to our country to kill the president,' Charles said. 'There were ... 26 Colombians, identified by their passports ... and two Haitian Americans as well.'
'We are going to bring them to justice,' he said as the 17 suspects sat handcuffed on the floor during a press conference on Thursday night, where a variety of weapons and Colombian passports were arrayed on a table. […]
Haitian authorities have still not revealed a motive for the killing, what evidence led them to the suspects, or who they believe masterminded the plot -- and skepticism is growing among the Haitian public over the government's account of the assassination. (Daily Mail)
The State Department has not confirmed or commented about the Haitian Americans in custody but said it was aware of reports.
President Jovenel Moïse was reportedly shot at his home a dozen times outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
"We found twelve [bullet wounds] on the body of the president," Pétion-Ville deputy justice of the peace, Carl Henry Destin, told French-language newspaper Le Nouvelliste, according to Business Insider.
His wife was also critically injured and is being treated in Miami.