What we know about the deadly encounter between U.S. speedboat and Cuban forces

Four people were killed and six others were injured in a confrontation involving a vessel registered in Florida and Cuban Border Guard troops on Wednesday, the Cuban government said.

The government said late Wednesday that the 10 passengers on the boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

Here’s what to know.

What happened in Cuba?

Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speed boat that had entered Cuban waters and opened fire on its soldiers first, injuring one Cuban officer.

Cuba’s Interior Ministry issued a statement that provided few details about the shooting, but noted that the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off Cuba’s north coast.

It wasn’t immediately known what the boat and its occupants were doing in Cuban waters. In the statement, the ministry said Cuba’s government was “safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.”

Was the shootout the result of a U.S. operation?

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was not a U.S. government operation and that he wasn’t “going to speculate about whose boat it was, what they were doing, why they were there, what actually happened.”

Rubio told reporters the U.S. is now gathering its own information to determine if the victims were American citizens or permanent residents.

Who was on the boat?

Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”

The Cuban government identified two of the boat passengers as Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, who they said are wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism.”

Cuba’s government said it obtained the details about the passengers aboard the boat from the suspects detained following the shootout.

It identified seven of the 10 passengers, including:

• Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara
• Roberto Azcorra Consuegra
• Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez
• Conrado Galindo Sariol
• Michel Ortega Casanova (deceased)
• José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló
• Amijail Sánchez González

However, Azcorra Consuegra told NBC6 on Wednesday night that he was surprised to see his name on the list because he is in the U.S. and was not in Cuba. Consuegra denied knowledge of any plans to go to Cuba. But when asked if he knew any of the other names on the list provided by the Cuban government, he replied: “I can’t reveal that information for now.”

Asked why he believes the government would provide his name on the list, Azcorra Consuegra said: “They know me. They know me well, they know it all.” He declined to comment further.

Three others have not yet been identified.

“The investigation process continues until the facts are fully clarified,” the ministry said in a statement.

The government said it also had arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, adding that he was “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions.”

The Associated Press was not immediately able to independently verify that information.

Who does the boat belong to?

The registration number for the boat given by the Cuban government showed it was a 24-foot Pro-Line center console fishing vessel built in 1981.

The person whose name is on the registration as the owner of the boat involved in the shootout owns a home in Miami Lakes, records showed.

An NBC6 reporter was at the home on Wednesday when two people who identified themselves as an FBI agent approached the front door and spoke with a family member through a doorbell camera.

NBC6 has attempted to reach family members connected with the home and have not heard back yet.

Lawmakers react: A ‘highly unusual’ shootout

Rubio had told reporters earlier that he was made aware of the incident and that the U.S. is now gathering its own information to determine if the victims were American citizens or permanent residents.

He said he found out about the shooting before the Cuban government posted on social media, noting that the U.S. has “constant contact” with the country “at the Coast Guard level.”

“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio said while at the airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s top diplomat refused to speculate on what happened, saying that it could be a “wide range of things,” and that the U.S. will not solely rely on what the Cuban authorities have provided thus far.

“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time,” Rubio said.

He said both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating the incident and stressed that he wants to verify the facts.

“The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans. We will verify that independently as we gather more information, and we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” Rubio said. “We’re going to have our own information on this. We’re going to figure out exactly what happened.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said it would pursue answers “through every legal and diplomatic channel available,” adding that “facts remain unclear and conflicting.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said late Wednesday afternoon that Rubio had briefed him on the incident. He added that the White House was monitoring the situation.

“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.

Meanwhile, James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney general, said he has ordered prosecutors to work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.

“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on X.

Fear over increased tensions

The shooting threatens to increase tensions between the U.S. and Cuba. Following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward Cuba, which had been largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil.

The energy crisis Cuba has been grappling with in recent years entered new extremes last month when Trump signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The move put pressure on Mexico, which Cuba became largely dependent on for petroleum after Trump halted oil shipments from Venezuela.