American missionaries killed in gang violence in Haiti: read more here

Three people were killed in Haiti as a result of the ongoing gang violence still affecting the country, including an American missionary couple.

Gunmen ambushed Natalie Lloyd, 21, her husband David, 23, and their 20-year-old Haitian companion Jude Montis as they left a church.

Ben Baker, a senator from Missouri and Natalie’s father, confirmed the couple’s death on Facebook.

“They were attacked by mobs tonight and were both killed,” he wrote. “They went to heaven together.”

The couple tied the knot in 2022.

Mr Montis was the third victim, their organization Missions in Haiti revealed to the US media.

The organization said in an earlier Facebook post that the three were attacked by two different armed groups, starting with an attack by gunmen driving three different vehicles.

The report further stated that the three missionaries were locked up in a home when the gang went “into full attack mode” following the arrival of another group and the shooting of a gang member.

“They are locked in there, the gangs shot out all the windows in the house and continued shooting,” the post said.

Three hours later, missions in Haiti confirmed that all three had been killed.

A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed CBS, the BBC’s American partner, that they were aware of the deaths.

The spokeswoman said: “We offer our sincere condolences to the family on their loss.” “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance.”

Missouri Governor Mike Parson described the fatalities on X/Twitter as “absolutely heartbreaking news.”

To stabilize the country, the White House on Friday demanded the rapid deployment of a multinational force under Kenyan leadership.

“The security situation in Haiti cannot wait,” a National Security Council spokesperson said, adding that President Joe Biden had pledged Thursday to support the “accelerated deployment” of the force in talks with the Kenyan president.

“Our thoughts go out to the families of the dead, who are experiencing unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson added.

In a Friday interview with the BBC, Kenya’s President William Ruto said his country will deploy troops in the country in part because of incidents like these.

“We cannot lose people. We cannot lose missionaries. It is why we made this decision – recognizing that the responsibility for security in Haiti is a shared responsibility,” he said.

“We are doing this to prevent more people from losing their lives to gangs,” he added.

A similar event occurred in 2021, when seventeen missionaries from North America were kidnapped and imprisoned east of Port-au-Prince.