New attacks were reported in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. Heavy gunfire could be heard across communities in the Haitian capital.
At least five bodies were seen in and around the suburbs, with gangs blocking entrances to several areas, according to ABC News.
Haitians caught in the crosslines called radio stations begging for help from Haiti's national police force, which remains understaffed and useless as gangs have taken over the capital.
Among the communities targeted in the early hours were Pétion-Ville, Meyotte, Diègue, and Métivier.
"When I woke up to go to work, I found I could not leave because the neighborhood was in the hand of the bandits," said Samuel Orelus.
"They were about 30 men with heavy weapons. If the neighborhood had mobilized, we could have destroyed them, but they were heavily armed, and there was nothing we could do."
A police officer was shot and killed in broad daylight Wednesday afternoon in the neighborhood of Delmas 72, said the SYNAPOHA police union.
With no sign of slowing down, the US State Department announced it completed the first evacuation of American citizens. More than 15 Americans were transported via airlift to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
More than 30 US citizens are now able to leave Port-au-Price daily abroad on the US government-organized helicopter flights.
"We will continue to monitor demand from US citizens for assistance in departing Haiti on a real-time basis," the department said.
The agency evacuated more than 30 American citizens from Cap-Haitien, a coastal city in northern Haiti, to Miami International Airport.
"We hope that conditions will allow a return of commercial means for people to travel from Haiti soon. We and the international community and the Haitian authorities are working for that to become a reality," the State Department said.
A plane chartered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management also evacuated 14 Florida residents, including children, revealed Kevin Gutherie, executive director of the state agency.
More than 300 Floridians are trapped in Haiti. Despite bureaucratic impediments, the Florida-sponsored operation is actively working on getting them on future flights.
"We understand there are people really in danger right now who are fellow Floridians," DeSantis said in a news conference.
Two days before the attacks, gangs rioted through the affluent neighborhoods of Laboule and Thomassin in Petion-Ville, killing at least a dozen people.
The violence has prompted the closure of banks, schools, and businesses within the community.
Haitians are currently waiting on the promise of new leadership, while Caribbean officials are scurrying to help form a transitional presidential council.
