(NewsNation) — The father of an American missionary said Saturday that his son was fatally shot in Haiti after describing over the phone being trapped and shot at by gang members who had descended on their mission compound.

David Lloyd told “NewsNation Prime,” that he spoke to his son, Davy, as the first gang looted the compound run by Missions in Haiti Inc.

His son reported being hit in the head with a gun. Then he said a second heavily armed gang stormed the compound and trapped Davy, his wife Natalie and the mission’s local director Jude Montis inside Lloyd’s house there.

David Lloyd said his son and daughter-in-law had “a lot of love for the children” they served in Haiti and had recently begun full-time missionary work there.

“They were just perfect for Haiti,” he said.

Davy and Natalie Lloyd, along with Jude Montis, were attacked Thursday after leaving a youth group activity at a church in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince.

Ben Baker, Natalie Lloyd’s father and a state representative in Missouri, said Friday on Facebook that the couple’s bodies were safely transported to the U.S. Embassy.

David Lloyd said he tried negotiating with one gang leader to leave but later learned the shooting continued, killing the three victims.

“They were being shot at and the house was being shot up, the windows shot at,” he said.

No one has claimed responsibility, but David Lloyd suspected one gang looted the compound first before the other moved in. He said the area has descended into gang control with police unable to enter.

Haiti’s capital has been crumbling under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of the city, while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country.

David and his wife Alicia Lloyd, of Oklahoma, started the Missions in Haiti organization in 2000 to focus on the children of Haiti.

Hannah Cornett, David Lloyd’s daughter, told The Associated Press that she and her brother grew up in Haiti. Davy went to the U.S. to attend a Bible college and married Natalie in June 2022. After the wedding, the couple wasted little time moving to Haiti to do humanitarian work.

Cornett said Montis, a Haitian, worked at Missions in Haiti for 20 years. Cornett said Montis left behind two children, ages 2 and 6.

David Lloyd expressed uncertainty about how an investigation into the killings could proceed effectively since the area is controlled by gangs that have made it a “no-go” zone for police.

He said an outside military force may be needed to regain control so police can investigate. Still, he wasn’t sure how they would identify the specific gang members responsible for the attack.

Haiti has seen a severe spike in gang-related kidnappings and killings as the country’s political instability deepens following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.