Haiti's President Jovenel Moise was killed in an attack at his residence after a group of unidentified individuals stormed his home at around 1 a.m. local time.
The country's acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph said the president was killed in a "highly coordinated attack by a highly trained and heavily armed group."
Here's what else we know:
The group called the assassination and the shooting of the Haitian first lady, "a shocking indicator of the serious human rights and political crisis that Haiti has been facing for years."
In a statement, Amnesty said it is concerned about the potential escalation of violence in coming days and will be carefully monitoring any potential protests that ensue, attacks against human rights defenders, and attacks against ordinary Haitians.
The organization called on the Haitian authorities to put human rights at the center of their response to the political crisis.
The Americas director at Amnesty International Erika Guevara-Rosassaid said “the killing of President Jovenel Moïse must be immediately and impartially investigated alongside the grave human rights violations and chronic impunity that ordinary people have suffered under his watch."
Amnesty International also called on the international community to provide all assistance to the country to find ways to de-escalate violence and provide human rights protection, including for journalists and human rights defenders.
“We can say for certain they were professional killers. It was a well-orchestrated attack against the president,” Edmond said.
Edmond said the motivations of the assassins are unclear, but he believes it was a politically motivated killing.
The assassins presented themselves as DEA agents, Edmond said, and are believed to be from outside of Haiti.
The US State Department has denied the attackers were DEA agents. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said those claims were “absolutely false."
“I believe from the preliminary information they are foreigners certainly helped by some local accomplices,” Edmond said. “They may be still in Haiti, the national police has started a manhunt to track them down.”
“We will put all necessary resources to make sure we apprehend them,” Edmond added.
Edmond said Haiti’s first lady Martine Moise, who was shot and injured in the attack, was evacuated to Miami where she is being treated.
“We hope the doctors will find a way to save her life,” Edmond said, “We keep her in our prayers.”
The tribute to Moise is scheduled to start Thursday and end on July 22, according to an official decree published Wednesday.
Haiti's acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has assumed leadership of the country in the immediate aftermath of the attack and earlier declared the "state of siege" after a council of ministers meeting Wednesday morning.
“I call on everyone to stay calm and I am very sorry to report to you the death of the president. Me and all the ministers have been working since the news broke and we want to assure you we will bring the killers of the president to justice. Please stay calm and let the authorities do their work. We don’t want the country to plunge into chaos. This is a very sad day for our nation and for our people,” Joseph said.
A state-of-siege means all borders are closed and martial law is temporarily imposed, with Haiti’s military and the Haiti National Police (HNP) empowered to enforce the law.
Haiti's acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has assumed leadership of the country in the immediate aftermath of the attack. He has declared a "state of siege" in Haiti, saying he did not want the nation to "plunge into chaos."
Edmond said he doesn't know if there is a timeline or deadline for a formal announcement of succession.
"I will let that to the Haitian authorities and discussion with civil society stakeholders to see how they can move forward with that. So I cannot, I cannot make an estimate on that, but that I know there has been, there is an interim government, or has to control the situation and to make sure that everything's under control," he said.
The president of the National Association of Haitian Judges Judge Jean Wilner Morin told CNN that for Joseph to formally replace the president, he would have to be approved by Haiti's parliament. But the parliament is currently partially empty and effectively defunct.
Complicating the line of succession even further, Moise had appointed another prime minister, Dr. Ariel Henry, just two days ago.
"I cannot tell you nothing right now because I let the authority (in Haiti) to settle down, to make sure that everything is in place. So, it will be able to be carried out, but for I cannot tell you anything," Edmond said.
Edmond also said he wasn't aware of any specific threat to the president's life ahead of the assassination.
"But what I can refer you to, I can refer you to the last interview he gave in January to in Spanish newspaper, where he said that a lot of people want him killed. For his reforms. That's the only thing I can tell you," he said.
"We've been talking with US authorities about this situation. And it's being considered, I don't know exactly how they are considering it, but we did request formally assistance from the United States, one with the investigation, and secondly with the security situation," he said.
Edmond said the UN Security Council is expected to meet on the situation in Haiti on Thursday.
"Hopefully, the UN will take more bold actions to strengthen our security. Because it's really a problem for us now," he said.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price reiterated the United States’ condemnation of the attack that left the president dead and the first lady injured.
Price said Secretary of State Antony Blinken was briefed on the assassination and the security situation in Haiti. He added that the Department has been in regular contact with acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph.
He said the US Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison has been in regular contact with a range of Haitian officials.
“Secretary Blinken started his day this morning with a comprehensive update on the situation on the ground, including the latest developments as we knew them at the time, the security situation. He was briefed by Ambassador Sison, who at this moment happens to be in Washington,” he said at a press briefing Wednesday.
“He was also on the phone with the DCM (Deputy Chief of Mission) who is on the ground in Haiti right now, DCM Nicole Theriot, as well as other members of his team. So we are prepared to receive additional requests for assistance from Haitian authorities.”
Price called on all political parties, civil society groups, and stakeholders to echo the call for calm from acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said those claims were “absolutely false”.
Earlier, the Haitian Ambassador to the US Bocchit Edmond said that video from the scene showed the attackers speaking Spanish and said they presented themselves as Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agents.
“I believe they are fake DEA agents,” he told reporters. Edmond added the attackers are believed to be “mercenaries,” referring to them as “well-trained killers.”
Price noted “the Haitian Ambassador himself has dismissed these allegations.”
He said video from the scene showed them speaking Spanish and said they presented themselves as Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agents.
“I believe they are fake DEA agents,” he told reporters Wednesday. Edmond asserted that the attackers were foreigners, but declined to give evidence to this beyond citing footage of them speaking Spanish.
“We don't know how they came in,” Edmond said, adding that they did not know if the attackers were still in the country. He said if they have left, it would be via a land border with the Dominican Republic because Haiti would have detected a plane leaving and the airport has been closed since the attack. He said the airport would reopen “once we have this situation under control."
He stressed the importance of the international community’s assistance in carrying out an investigation and also pointed to the need for security, specifically saying that they need armed forces, not local police, to protect their borders.
Edmond added, “If the border was well protected by the armed forces, it would have been difficult, because the national police doesn't have that mission to protect borders."
The ambassador said he had been in touch with the White House, State Department and his counterpart, the US ambassador to Haiti.
The Dominican Republic’s flight authority has suspended “air operations to and from the Republic of Haiti,” according to a statement from the country’s Civil Aviation Board (JAC) obtained by CNN on Wednesday.
Only flights transporting “Dominican Republic nationals and foreign diplomatic personnel duly accredited in the Republic of Haiti," will be allowed to fly back to Santo Domingo’s La Isabela International Airport, which is also known as the Joaquín Balaguer International Airport.
Those passengers “must present identification as proof of their nationality or diplomatic status,” the statement added.