Another Haiti gang leader popularly known by his alias New York was on Tuesday killed alongside four other gang members in a fierce shootout with police officers attached to the Haiti National Police.
The incident occurred after the gang took control of a general hospital in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
According to reports by a news outlet in Haiti, the gang had allegedly taken over the hospital to protect themselves against the police.
Upon taking over the hospital, a shootout occurred between the police and the gang members, a situation that left 4 gang members dead.
Police officers intensified their efforts to stop the gang and in the process managed to fatally shoot the gang leader, New York, killing him on the spot.
The operation was backed by the vigilante group, a blend of civilians and police officers who have joined in the efforts to neutralise the gangs.
The latest murder comes a fortnight after another gang leader Makandal was shot dead in a street shootout with Haiti police.
According to reports, the gang leader was killed after city residents joined hands with the police in attacking the gang leader and his associates.
Moments after the group was eliminated, the residents went ahead to set their bodies ablaze. They also burnt down the gang leader’s house.
Similarly, the developments come against the backdrop of a warning by another gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, alias "Barbecue," to Kenyan military and police ahead of deployment.
Barbecue declared that he would regard Kenyan police as aggressors and invaders, stating that he would not relent as he believed the Kenyan officers were coming to interfere with Haiti's independence.
“We will consider them as invaders and we do not have to collaborate with any invaders that have come to walk over our independence,” Barbecue warned.
