It was 2 a. m.
when the gunfire erupted in the rural village of Jean-Denis, Haiti. Residents asleep in their homes were suddenly under attack.
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"Pow, pow, pow – quick gunfire coming towards us from all directions," said Merçide Daniel, a 45-year-old mother of four.
"It was the Gran Grif gang coming to take over our neighbourhood and turn it into a base."
Dozens of armed men in civilian clothes and bandanas swarmed the village, shooting indiscriminately. Those who tried to flee were gunned down.
Others were dragged from their homes and killed at close range.
"They were shooting at us, attacking.
I ran to hide in the bushes and when I looked back, they had set everything on fire," Daniel said.
Homes were set ablaze, some with residents trapped inside. By morning, thick smoke still rose from charred buildings.
Dozens of bodies lay scattered on the roads.
Survivors wandered past the dead, filming the devastation and searching for loved ones.
Among the victims was 80-year-old Marie Elvire Louis, a mother of five, shot in the neck and chest outside her home.
Kenold François, a father of four, was shot multiple times in the abdomen in his yard.
Five members of Daniel's family were killed: two uncles, an aunt, and two cousins. Three died trying to escape; two were burned alive.
"I had never seen anything like this before," Daniel said. "It was a massacre."
