According to a statement by the country’s interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, President Giovinel Mois was shot and killed by an unidentified attacker in his private residence on Wednesday morning.

Joseph said that the 53-year-old wife of the president, Martina Moise, was also shot in the attack and is receiving medical treatment.

So far, 17 suspects have been detained. The Haitian authorities stated that two people are believed to have dual citizenship in the United States and Haiti, and 15 of the detainees are from Colombia.

The Colombian government stated that at least six suspects were former members of its army.

Colombians need a visa to enter Haiti.

The plan is to arrest, not kill: report

According to a report on Friday by the New Daily News, a judge investigating the assassination said that the two Haitian Americans arrested in the case were working as translators for a large group of attackers who had planned to arrest rather than kill leaders.

In an interview with French newspapers, Judge Clement Noel did not elaborate on the organization’s reasons for trying to arrest Moise. Noel said that one of the suspects, James Solages, told him that he “found this job on the Internet.”

Noel said that Solach only stayed in Haiti for a month, and another American citizen, Joseph Vincent, was arrested for six months.

Another judge, Fidelito Dieudonne, said that 4 of the 15 Colombians arrested in this case entered Haiti through the Dominican Republic on June 6.

Noel also told the newspaper that the police confiscated the weapons used by the attackers, including pistols, cartridges, the server of the Moise’s surveillance camera, the president’s and his wife’s checkbook, axes, wire cutters, clothes, food, mobile phones and cash.

International support required

Former Canadian Governor Michael Jean, who was born in Haiti, said that the investigation into the assassination requires international support because the country’s national police has been infiltrated by criminal organizations.

“I think the police themselves, the national police themselves, have been infiltrated by… criminal organizations so much that they need some help from independent political parties and foreign support to conduct this investigation,” Jean told CBC News network Power and politics Thursday.

Watch | Michaëlle Jean says Haiti needs an independent political party to investigate the assassination:

Former Governor Michaëlle Jean from Haiti joined Power & Politics on Thursday to discuss the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and what this means for the future of Caribbean countries. 11:20

There seems to be little evidence that the attacker was strongly resisted by the Moïse security team-Jean said this detail is worth investigating.

“Who in the country has the ability to sponsor and organize such criminal operations? In fact, who has enough influence to ensure that on-site security personnel will not resist?” Let asked the host, David Cochran. “Because, in fact, nothing seems to be blocking their way.”

Taiwan embassy breaks in

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Haitian police arrested 11 armed suspects for trying to break into Taiwan’s embassy in Port-au-Prince. It did not provide detailed information about the identity of the suspect or the reason for the break-in.

“As for whether the suspect was involved in the assassination of the President of Haiti, this requires investigation by the Haitian police,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said in Taipei.

Haiti is one of the few countries in the world that maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, rather than with the mainland Chinese government in Beijing.