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Edmond said the Haitian government had video evidence of the group speaking Spanish. He also said they claimed to be agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which Edmond and Price both rejected.

\"These reports are absolutely false. The United States condemns this heinous act,\" Price said during a briefing Wednesday.

The Haitian envoy also urged Washington to provide security assistance, not just for the immediate investigation, but also to boost Haitian security forces against armed gangs and a porous border. But Price told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the U.S. -- while ready to help -- had not yet received a formal request for assistance.

\"PHOTO:A
Valerie Baeriswyl/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO:A Haitian police officer stands guard outside of the presidential residence, July 7, 2021, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
>

Martine Moise is in stable but critical condition, according to Edmond, and she was flown to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport by Trinity Air Ambulance Wednesday afternoon for treatment at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to ABC News local affiliate WPLG.

The streets of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince were largely deserted Wednesday, as police patrolled the city streets. Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed in the wake of the assassination, preventing the U.S. ambassador to Haiti from returning Wednesday after previously scheduled meetings in Washington.

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince was also closed Wednesday, including for consular services, it said in a security alert. The embassy also said it is restricting its American staff to its compounds \"until further notice\" and urged members of the public to avoid unnecessary travel to the area.

U.S. officials are \" still gathering information\" on the deadly attack, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, offering U.S. assistance for Haitian authorities' investigation. But Price deferred questions about possible motives or suspects to Haitian authorities, saying they would take the lead.

Biden condemned \"this heinous act\" in a White House statement earlier in the day, adding his \"sincere wishes for First Lady Moïse's recovery.\"

\"PHOTO:
Valerie Baeriswyl/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: Members of the Haitian police and forensics look for evidence outside of the presidential residence, July 7, 2021, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
>

\"We stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti,\" the statement added.

Haiti has been in a state of chaos for months now, with frequent gunfire and street skirmishes between armed groups, political demonstrations and strikes for and against Moise, and a coronavirus wave never brought under control. Cases of the coronavirus were as high last month as they were one year ago, and the country has yet to distribute a single vaccine dose or receive any shipments from COVAX, the international program to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization.

That's in part because of the governing crisis roiling Haiti. The country's political opposition had argued that Moise's five-year presidential term ended this February -- five years after his election victory, but four years after he took office -- while he said he had one more year left because the disputed 2016 election delayed his inauguration until 2017.

Moise had been governing by decree since January 2020, after the country failed to hold legislative elections and the legislature's mandate expired. Opposition leaders accused him of wanting to return Haiti to a dictatorship.

Haitian officials say President Jovenel Moise was attacked by a group of \"well-trained commandos\" who were speaking Spanish. @cjf39 has more. https://t.co/YqyxkGnf3j pic.twitter.com/D1FQDl1hz9

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) July 7, 2021

Earlier this year, Moise ordered the retirement of three Supreme Court judges and the arrest of nearly two dozen people, including prominent officials, who he alleged were plotting a coup. Violent protests against Moise erupted, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency in parts of the country in March.

Moise had told a Spanish language newspaper in January that he feared people wanted to kill him, according to Edmond. But the ambassador added there was no information or advanced warning leading up to Wednesday's attack.

The political instability in addition to economic woes and escalating gang violence have undermined efforts to rebuild Haiti from a devastating earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

While the Biden administration backed Moise's claim to have one more year in office, it had grown increasingly vocal in its opposition to his \"one-man rule,\" in the words of the top U.S. diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, including governing by decrees and refusing to hold those legislative elections.

The State Department backed Joseph's calls for elections before the end of this year, with Price calling parliamentary and presidential elections \"the democratic path towards ending Haiti's irregular and prolonged rule by decree and restoring its parliament.\"

While the White House has said it will provide Haiti some of the initial 80 million COVID-19 vaccines it has promised to share overseas, it has yet to announce when it will do so -- with the worsening security situation now making it that much harder.

ABC News' Christine Theodorou, Molly Nagle and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.

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