The attack tore apart the community of Pont-Sondé and raised questions about the effectiveness of the strategy put in place by the government and its foreign partners to secure the country
On bed number two in the orthopedics room at Saint-Nicolas de Saint-Marc Hospital (HSN), Rose-Bertha groans in pain.
The lady is one of around twenty survivors with gunshot wounds hospitalized at the HSN following a violent attack by the Gran Grif de Savien gang on October 3 in Pont-Sondé.
Rose-Bertha wears an iron splint on her right foot to stabilize a fractured tibia, caused by a bullet during the attack.
Very early on the morning of the offensive, the trader said she took shelter and then tried to flee towards Saint-Marc, around six in the morning.
But the criminals caught her in the open.
“Two bandits ordered me to stop before grabbing my phone, says Rose-Bertha. A moment later, one of them shot me in the right foot. «
For now, Rose-Bertha – a resident of Pont-Sondé for three years – has already undergone surgery on her foot and continues to receive treatment at HSN.
Two bandits ordered me to stop before grabbing my phone. A moment later, one of them shot me in the right foot.
– Rose-Bertha
A little further away, in the operating room, is Sony Jeanty, a young 21-year-old man, accompanied by his mother.
He sustained gunshot wounds to the abdomen and buttocks.
Bandits from the Gran Grif gang peppered Jeanty with bullets while he was desperately looking for his mother at the time of the assault, according to the latter.
On October 3, the Saint-Marc HSN received 23 injuries and 5 deaths, according to Frantz Alexis, the hospital’s medical director.
Most patients suffer from head and chest injuries. Others sustain fractures of the tibia and femur.
“This is an unexpected situation,” he tells AyiboPost.
For the HSN, the rise in shootings in neighboring communities has led to a considerable influx of gunshot wounds this year.
Between January and September 2024, the institution says it received 100 victims, including 25 requiring emergency care.
The gridlock in Cabaret, Arcahaie and Montrouis is causing an unusual flow of patients from these municipalities towards the Saint-Nicolas hospital.
The hospital will reach capacity in the event of more serious disasters, warns Doctor Alexis.
For the HSN, the increase in shootings in neighboring communities is generating a considerable influx of gunshot wounds this year.
When the bandits broke into his house in Pont-Sondé during the deadly attack, François informed AyiboPost that he escaped in time.
His cousin was not so lucky.
Living in the same courtyard as François, the latter attempted to leave his house through a back corridor: he found himself facing the criminals who tried to take him with them.
He refused to follow the bandits.
“They shot him in the head then mutilated his body,” François tells AyiboPost, reporting the accounts of neighbors who witnessed the execution.
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The attack tore the community of Pont-Sondé apart and raised questions about the effectiveness of the strategy put in place by the government and its foreign partners to secure the country.
According to the head of a self-defense brigade in the region, about four heavily armed groups entered the area with the help of accomplices around 11 o’clock the day before.
Then, they began summary executions around two in the morning, while torching houses.
The following day, lifeless bodies could be seen in nearby alleys and fields.
They began the summary executions around two in the morning, while torching houses.
Residents had to quickly bury some corpses which were already beginning to decompose.
“We can’t provide an exact number of victims, given that no justice of the peace wanted to go into the field after the attack,” Venson François, government commissioner for the jurisdiction of Saint-Marc, told AyiboPost.
According to groups in the area, the counts already exceed 120 deaths, continues Commissioner François, saying he fears these figures will reach 200 victims.
To this day, people continue to discover corpses inside homes.
These attacks are likely to continue.
The Gran Grif gang is looking to expand into Pont-Sondé, a locality in the Bocozelle municipal section, to control access to the town of Saint-Marc.
They also installed a toll booth at Carrefour-Paye in order to extort vehicles venturing through National Road #1.
But a vigilance brigade in the area was opposed to this plan.
This led to threats from the gang against the residents of Pont-Sondé, before the attack on October 3.
Despite the threats, no provisions were put in place to strengthen security measures, according to local authorities.
“On the eve of the attack, I was at the police headquarters to explain the security situation in the area, but there was no follow-up,” reveals Venson François.
After the attack, members of the population of Pont-Sondé took refuge in the Philippe Guerrier public square, in downtown Saint-Marc, as well as at the Lycée National Antoinette Dessalines, the Lycée du Bicentenaire, and the Lycée Sténio Vincent.
At the beginning, “the displaced people were around 6,000. Currently, there may be about 4,000, as many have returned home,” according to Walter Montas, vice-delegate of Saint-Marc.
On the eve of the attack, I was at the police headquarters to explain the security situation in the area, but there was no follow-up.
– Venson François
For the moment, the centers lack medicine, sleeping equipment, sanitary products, etc.
This is the case at the Lycée National Antoinette Dessalines accommodation camp, which houses more than 700 people.
“The number of people exceeds the capacity of the space, and people are sleeping in tight quarters,” a camp manager told AyiboPost.
The space lacks lighting, and the sanitation and food kits also remain insufficient.
The day after the incident, several police officers from the specialized body of the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the multinational mission led by Kenya went on the scene.
But there is still no intervention in gang hotbeds, according to witnesses.
Which indicates “that there was no plan, and this until now,” laments Venson François.
Although relative calm seems to be returning to the area, threats persist and citizens are hiding in fear.
Petite-Rivière, located 33 minutes from Pont-Sondé, finds itself under the complete control of members of Savien’s gang. The bandits are intensifying the looting of stores, extortion at the public market, and the seizure of livestock from local breeders.
“The people who remain in the town are in dire straits and cannot go about their business,” Interim Mayor Dort Lereste told AyiboPost.
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