It is alleged that the killings were either due to local gang wars or the actions of Haitian officials attempting to quell anti-corruption protests.
[1] The massacre occurred in the middle of various protests within Haiti: Jovenel Moïse was elected president in November 2016, but protestors saw him as corrupt.
[3] Witness reports state that a police truck carrying uniformed men arrived in Port-au-Prince's La Saline slums at around 3 pm on 13 November 2018.
[1] Fondasyon Je Klere suggested links between armed gangs, corrupt police officers and government officials may point towards the perpetrators of the massacre.
[1] In December 2020, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against Jimmy Chérizier, a former officer who became a gang leader, Fednel Monchery, and Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan, two officials in the Moise administration, for their alleged involvement in the massacre.