In Haiti, injured Wyclef Jean says he was shot
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Wyclef Jean was injured in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday, the night before the runoff election that will finally determine Haiti’s new president.
Despite initial reports from the singer and his camp saying a bullet grazed his right palm when he stepped out of his car to make a phone call, Petionville Police Chief Vanel Lacroix told Reuters that according to doctors, Jean cut his hand on glass.
The hip-hop performer told CNN he heard ‘the sound of the booms’ and was ‘grazed by a bullet.’ Pras Michel, who was in the Fugees with Jean, tweeted Saturday night that Wyclef had been shot, but that ‘Everyone can relax Wyclef is fine... They can’t stop us not one bullet or a machine gun!!!!!!!’
Jean was treated for a superficial wound at a local hospital and released with a bandaged hand. Messages on the @wyclef Twitter feed Saturday and Sunday read, ‘We have spoken to Wyclef, he is ok. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers -- Management.’
The musician, whose personal campaign for the Haitian presidency was cut short when it was determined that he didn’t meet residency requirements, was supporting rowdy pop performer Michel ‘Sweet Micky’ Martelly in the Sunday runoff against scholar and former First Lady Mirlande Manigat.
A first round of voting -- marked by disorganization, violence and alleged fraud -- was held in January, narrowing the field of candidates for the runoff. Official preliminary results of the voting will be released March 31, according to the Times’ Ken Ellingwood, reporting from Port-au-Prince.
Jean has been very visible in supporting Haiti’s recovery since the country was devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010. He resigned from Yele Haiti, the foundation he co-founded in 2005, in August to pursue the Haitian presidency.
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-- Christie D’Zurilla
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
