Armed gang members stormed a church sheltering displaced families in the hills above Port-au-Prince on Sunday night, killing at least 47 people in what the local mayor called a "night of terror."
Gunmen from the 5 Segonn, "5 Seconds", gang opened fire inside the church in Kenscoff, a hillside commune overlooking Haiti's capital, Breitbart News reported. The church had been serving as a displaced persons camp, packed with Haitians who had already fled gang violence elsewhere. More than 22 were wounded. The death toll, drawn from United Nations figures relayed through the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste, may still rise.
Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon described the killings to Agence France-Presse on Monday as execution-style. His account was blunt:
"The bandits raided a displaced persons camp located in a church. They executed several people. There are fatalities and dozens of wounded. Some people were abducted by the criminals."
The gang's leader, Johnson "Izo 2" Andre, did not hide. He reportedly posted a video on social media showing nearly 20 hostages, including children, seized during the assault. His threat to the camera was direct: "If one of my dogs or one of my soldiers is killed, these people will be killed."
Just The News reported that more than 50 people were kidnapped in the broader attack, and that 22 of the dead were executed inside the church compound itself. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the massacre, saying the violence "underscores the alarming security conditions in Haiti and reinforces the urgent need to intensify Haitian and international security efforts to counter gangs."
Kenscoff sits on ground gangs covet for its strategic position
The commune of Kenscoff is not a random target. It sits on high ground above Port-au-Prince and controls routes to Pétion-Ville, a neighboring area that houses several foreign embassies and the seat of Haiti's current government. For armed groups seeking territorial leverage, holding Kenscoff means holding a chokepoint over the country's political center.
The 5 Segonn gang operates under the broader Viv Ansanm, "Living Together", coalition, led by Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier. Massillon attributed the church killings directly to that coalition. In the days before the massacre, the neighborhood and its outskirts had been under drone surveillance after gangs gained ground in the area.
Whatever the surveillance detected, it did not prevent what happened Sunday night.
262 killed in Kenscoff in the first three months of 2025 alone
Sunday's massacre was not an isolated eruption. It was the latest blow in a sustained campaign of gang violence that has turned Kenscoff into one of Haiti's most dangerous places. A flash report from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti documented at least 262 people killed in the commune between January and March 2025 alone, 147 of them gang members. The rest were civilians caught in the crossfire or deliberately targeted.
Earlier in July, another wave of gang attacks across Kenscoff and Pétion-Ville killed at least 61 people, including 14 children. Each round of killings displaces more families, who crowd into churches, schools, and makeshift camps, which then become soft targets for the next assault. The cycle feeds itself.
Port-au-Prince's government promises force but has delivered little
The office of Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé issued a statement Monday placing all national security forces on high alert and announcing the deployment of reinforcements across Kenscoff's territory. The statement's language was forceful:
"The Government's message is unequivocal: no armed group will thrive in Haiti. Criminals will be granted neither a truce, nor refuge, nor impunity. The security forces have been tasked with pursuing them, neutralizing them, and rendering them incapable of causing harm."
The prime minister's office added that "the public must remain confident" and that "the Republic will prevail." But the record tells a different story. Kenscoff has endured months of escalating gang warfare. Hundreds have died. Displaced families sheltering in a church were gunned down, and the gang leader responsible posted a hostage video openly, without apparent fear of consequence.
No arrests in connection with the massacre have been reported. The status of the nearly 20 hostages shown in Andre's video remains unknown. The specific reinforcements deployed, their size, composition, and rules of engagement, were not detailed in the government's statement.
Viv Ansanm operates in the open while Haiti's state withers
The Viv Ansanm coalition has functioned as a de facto parallel authority in parts of Haiti for years. Its leader, Chérizier, is a former police officer who built a network of armed gangs into a political force. The coalition's name, "Living Together", is a grim irony for the families who fled its violence only to be massacred in a church that was supposed to be a refuge.
Andre's willingness to broadcast hostage footage and issue execution threats on social media reflects the reality on the ground: Haiti's gangs operate without meaningful deterrence. The government issues statements. The U.N. issues reports. The gangs issue body counts.
Haiti's prime minister closed his statement with a promise that "Kenscoff will not be abandoned." For the 47 people killed inside a church on Sunday night, and for the families still held hostage, that assurance arrived too late.
When a gang leader can massacre dozens of unarmed civilians in a house of worship, film himself holding children hostage, and post it for the world to see without consequence, the state has not merely failed, it has ceased to function in any way that matters to the people it claims to govern.
