A Haitian senator brandished a pistol and opened fire at a group of protesters, injuring two people.

A group of people was protesting outside parliament when Senator Jean Marie Ralph Fethiere arrived in a pickup truck. The protesters reportedly surrounded the vehicle and opened Fethiere’s passenger-side door. The senator left the truck and began firing rounds from his pistol, according to Reuters. He then got back into the truck, and it sped off.

The gunshots made the crowd panic and flee the scene.

BBC reports Associated Press photojournalist Dieu Nalio Chery was struck in the chin. He was taken to a hospital and treated. Chery's injuries were not serious. A security guard was also injured, but his condition is unknown.

Fethiere, who is a member of Haiti's ruling party, doesn't regret his actions. He claims he had the weapon because "armed individuals threatened me."

"I was attacked by violent militant groups, so I defended myself," Fethiere told Radio Mega, a local radio station. "Self-defense is a sacred right."

Haiti has been in turmoil due to fuel shortages and blackouts caused by inflation-based prices. Haiti used to get financed fuel from Venezuela. The arrangement ended when Venezuela began experiencing economic issues. Now, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere relies on international markets.

The country's disgruntled citizens blame President Jovenel Moise for their troubles and have called for his resignation. Moise refuses to step down because he refuses to place Haiti in the "hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers."

Moise was supposed to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, but he canceled the trip on Monday, according to Al Jazeera. Additionally, a Senate session to ratify the general policy of newly installed Prime Minister Fritz-William Michel was postponed.

"We don't want to hear about ratifying the prime minister. We don't have a government problem but a president problem: Jovenel Moise is incompetent," protestor Didier Benel told a group of masked men. "He can't lead and, because of that, our misery is that much greater."

Dieu-Nalio-CheryHaiti-ProtestJovenel-MoiseSenator-Jean-Marie-Ralph-Fethiere