Police in Haiti say officers shot and killed former rebel leader Wilfort Ferdinand
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥 A spokesman for Haiti鈥檚 National Police said Thursday that officers killed former rebel leader Wilfort Ferdinand after they accused him of opening fire at a police checkpoint in the coastal town of Gona茂ves earlier this week.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥 A spokesman for Haiti鈥檚 National Police said Thursday that officers killed former rebel leader Wilfort Ferdinand after they accused him of opening fire at a police checkpoint in the coastal town of Gona茂ves earlier this week.
Ferdinand was a suspected gang leader who played a key role in the 2004 uprising that ousted former President .
鈥淧olice had no intention of killing anyone,鈥 police spokesman Michel-Ange Louis Jeune told The Associated Press of Tuesday鈥檚 shooting.
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He said that Ferdinand had approached the checkpoint in a car with tinted windows only to back up and then open fire on officers, who returned fire and killed him and an unidentified person traveling with him.
Jeune said it was a routine checkpoint aimed at cracking down on the Kokorat San Ras gang, which operates in the and is known for its extreme violence.
Local media reported that shortly after the killing, heavy gunfire was heard in the area.
Gruesome pictures of the killing were shared on social media, sparking ongoing protests in Gona茂ves that have shut down businesses.
Ferdinand was known as K貌mandan Ti Wil and led the Artibonite Resistance Front. He was an ally of , another former rebel leader.
