Armed assailants killed two journalists and a police officer and injured several others on Tuesday in a deadly attack during a press conference at the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital, the State University of Haiti hospital in Port-au-Prince.
The event, which aimed to announce the facility’s return to service after street gangs forced its closure earlier this year, turned into a scene of violence as journalists gathered to cover the occasion.
The hospital, closed since March due to a surge in gang attacks, was expected to reopen on Christmas Eve, a key moment for the capital’s healthcare system. However, gunmen opened fire on the group of journalists waiting for the arrival of the health minister.
Johnson “Izo” André, the leader of Haiti’s most powerful gang coalition, Viv Ansanm, which controls much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media taking responsibility for the attack. The video claimed that the gang did not authorize the reopening of the hospital.
A video from the scene showed at least three reporters lying on the floor, apparently injured, but it could not be immediately verified. Robest Dimanche, spokesperson for the Online Media Collective, confirmed that the slain journalists were Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. According to the Haitian Association of Journalists, in addition to the two journalists, one police officer was killed, and seven journalists were wounded. The association condemned the attack as “a macabre scene comparable to terrorism, pure and simple.”
Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, expressed condolences, saying, “I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police, and the journalists.”
In response to the violence, the government condemned the attack, describing it as “a heinous act… [that] constitutes an unacceptable attack on the very foundations of our society.”
The press conference had been scheduled for 8am (13:00 GMT) with the health minister, Duckenson Lorthe Blema, who was appointed in a cabinet reshuffle after the ousting of former prime minister Garry Conille in late November. However, the shooting began around 11am, before the minister had arrived.
Haiti’s public healthcare system, already pushed to its limits, faces further challenges as gang violence has ravaged medical institutions and created a shortage of essential resources. The recent increase in violence, along with the seasonal rainy period, exacerbates risks for the population, with waterborne diseases like cholera becoming a growing concern. According to UNICEF, there have been more than 84,000 suspected cholera cases in the country.
