Haitian police shot and killed a man they suspected of stealing
rice in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince on Thursday, leaving
his body on the sidewalk for hours as his family mourned.
The dead man's mother identified him as Gentile Cherie, a 20-year-old
carpenter. A companion with him was wounded, and a third man
nearby was hit by what he said was a stray bullet.
Witnesses said no one was looting at the time. Josef Josnain,
the owner of a shop near the city's airport, said the five bags
of rice the men were found with fell from a truck and passers-by
picked them up. And Cherie's wounded companion, who did not
give his name, said a truck driver gave them the rice.
"A truck stopped and we jumped on, and the driver gave
us the rice as a gift," he said. "But the cops shot
us."
