47 Killed, More Than 50 Kidnapped in Gang Massacre Near Haiti's Capital

Gunmen stormed the hillside town of Kenscoff, just outside Port-au-Prince, on the night of Sunday, August 23, killing at least 47 people and kidnapping more than 50 others, the United Nations said Tuesday, August 25. Another 22 people were wounded.

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH, says the toll could still rise. At least five of the dead were children, according to the U.N. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said 22 of the victims were executed inside a church compound where displaced people had taken shelter, calling it evidence of "the alarming security conditions in Haiti."

Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon told The Associated Press that gang members set fire to at least 25 homes and killed two government employees, including his own cousin. He told AFP some killings were carried out execution-style, describing the assault as a "night of terror." Massillon blamed the attack on Viv Ansanm, a gang coalition the United States designated a foreign terrorist organization last year.

According to Haiti's Le Nouvelliste, cited by Breitbart, the gang member who claimed responsibility identified himself as Johnson "Izo 2" André, a leader of the 5 Segonn gang operating under the broader Viv Ansanm umbrella led by Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier. Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said Izo 2 is also known as "Didi" and runs the Kenscoff operation in coordination with Izo, or Johnson André, one of Haiti's most powerful gang bosses.

A Threat Designed to Trap the Police

In a video posted to social media, the gang leader threatened Vladimir Paraison, director of Haiti's National Police, by name: "Paraison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them." He was referring to the hostages, which the video showed included nearly 20 people, some of them children.

Le Cour, speaking to The Associated Press, called the threat "a trap." If police don't act, they've failed to protect the hostages. If they do act and hostages die in the process, the gangs get to blame the state either way.

Le Cour said the raid could be a deliberate move to stretch Haiti's already thin security forces even further. "They don't have enough personnel," he said. "If you force them to deploy more troops, it would inevitably be at the expense of other areas." He added the attack may simply be a message: "This is a message to the government and the police that their claims of protection do not match reality. The gangs are saying: when we choose to attack, we can, and we will succeed."

Residents Say Police Failed Them

Kenscoff resident Marc Paul, 42, told the AP that gang members kidnapped his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. His 16-year-old niece was also abducted and raped, he said, but escaped and reunited with him. "I had to run over bodies," Paul said. "I can't sleep knowing all these people died." His family had already lost their home in a January 2025 gang attack on Kenscoff, but he said Sunday's violence was far worse.

Another resident, Coriolan Kendy, stood beside his cousin's body wrapped in a blood-stained sheet and told Reuters, "People in Kenscoff are suffering and the government is to blame."

According to Euronews, survivors have accused the government of failing to protect the town despite prior warnings, and Haiti's National Police have rejected those accusations. Le Cour told Euronews that if armored vehicles and police were genuinely stationed in Kenscoff before the attack, that raises a question: "You let the gangs come in even if you had everything in place?"

Haiti's National Police announced Tuesday that it has ordered an investigation into whether there was "complicity or negligence" in the response, and said it has deployed additional specialized units to the area.

A Test Before December's Election

The office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé issued a statement following the attack pledging that "no armed group will thrive in Haiti" and that security forces have been ordered to pursue, neutralize and disarm those responsible. The statement said all national security forces have been placed on high alert.

Le Cour called the raid "a major political and security test for the government, for the police and for the international mission alike." The stakes are higher than usual: Haiti is scheduled to hold general elections on December 13, its first in more than a decade.

The first major gang assault on Kenscoff came in January 2025, and the area has seen sporadic attacks since. Sunday's raid, according to multiple outlets covering the U.N.'s account, was the largest yet.

Coverage across outlets was largely consistent on the core facts. Breitbart's report leaned more heavily on quoting the Haitian government's defiant statement in full, while Al Jazeera and Euronews gave more space to residents' anger at local police. None of the sources have reported whether any hostages have been released, harmed, or located as of Tuesday, August 25. Security forces moving against the gang holding them face a dilemma. Whichever way they respond, the gang has already framed it as a no-win test of the state's authority.