Police in Haiti blame gang for killing 3 officers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s National Police said it is investigating the recent slaying of three officers that it blamed on gang members.

The agency said Wednesday that a gang called “Ti Makak,” which means Little Macaques, killed the officers on Tuesday in Laboule, a largely gated community located just south of Port-au-Prince.

It is also the site of recent turf wars between gangs that have led to other killings in the area, including two journalists who were fatally shot and set on fire in January and a former senator who worked for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and his nephew who were killed in August in the same fashion.

Police said they have opened an investigation into what it called an “odious and repugnant” act.

A video circulating on social media appears to show the slain officers sprawled on the ground, stripped of their shirts, with various guns and automatic weapons lying on their bodies.

“Here they are, here they are,” a man says as the camera pans across the bodies.

Gangs have grown more powerful since the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and have overpowered police, who are understaffed and have limited resources.

The international community has tried to help boost Haiti’s National Police by providing training and resources in recent months.