Following down the suspects in the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moise, police in the country hunted down suspects, killing four alleged perpetrators and arresting six individuals — including one American — as the country is in absolute turmoil.

Moise was shot dead by what officials are saying was a commando of trained killers, while his wife, Martine, was critically wounded and had to be evacuated to Miami for further treatment. 

The motive of the attack is not known so far.  

The poorest country in the Americas now has no president or working parliament and two men claiming to be in charge as prime minister.

Meanwhile, the air in the capital Port-au-Prince have intensified, and shops, banks and gas stations closed. The main airport was also closed, as was the border with the Dominican Republic.

United Nations envoy to Haiti, Helen La Lime, speaking from the Haitian capital, said four members of a group that attacked the president’s private residence early Wednesday and shot the president have been killed by police and six others were in custody.

“I’m also aware that a larger group of possible perpetrators have taken refuge in two buildings in the city and they are now surrounded by the police,” La Lime said, according to AFP inputs.

Talking about the American who was arrested, Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s elections minister, said the man was of Haitian origin, although he did not confirm press reports identifying the man as James Solages.

However, the US State Department said it could not confirm that any US citizen was arrested.

“Among the assailants, six are in the hands of the police,” National Police Director Leon Charles told a press conference.

“We already have the physical perpetrators in hand and we are looking for the instigators.”

Haiti has requested US assistance in its investigation, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.

“We are aware of a Haitian National Police request for investigative assistance and the United States is responding,” Price told reporters.

The country is observing two weeks of mourning for the death of Moise.

Meanwhile, a 28-year-old woman named Julia said she was wary of the police claims that foreign mercenaries killed the president.

“Where were the well-equipped police who watch over the president night and day? Why didn’t they react?” she asked.

In the Petionville neighborhood of the capital on Thursday, a crowd brought two men to a police station and called for them to be lynched.

In total, four men said to be in on the killing were being held at the police station, however, there is yet no official confirmation that they were actually suspects in the assassination.

Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a national “state of siege” and said he was now in charge.

Joseph has only been in his post as prime minister for three months, and was due to step down within days after Moise named a replacement on Monday.

Joseph’s replacement, Ariel Henry, said Joseph “is no longer prime minister in my opinion.”

“Does a country have several prime ministers?” asked Henry.

During the assassination, a maid and another domestic staff member were reportedly tied up by the commandos who allegedly shouted “DEA operation” as they burst in.

Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Bocchit Edmond, said the killers were “professional” mercenaries disguised as US Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Joseph on Wednesday said the president was “assassinated at his home by foreigners who spoke English and Spanish.”

The unpopular Moise had ruled Haiti by decree after legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed.

US President Joe Biden condemned the killing as “horrific” and said Washington was ready to assist in any way. The US also called for Haiti to proceed with the elections.