Rubio promises US will 'act accordingly' to four people killed on boat in Cuban waters

Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Wednesday to "respond accordingly" to reports that four people were killed, and six others were injured in an incident with Cuba earlier in the day.

The Cuban Ministry of the Interior said the incident occurred when a boat, which displayed a Florida registration number, entered its waters and began firing at Cuban border patrol troops.

Cuba said that when five members of its border guards approached the Florida boat for identification, people on the boat allegedly began shooting at the Cubans and injured its commanding officer. Cuba fought back and killed four attackers.

Rubio said he was not going to just take Cuba's account of the incident but would respond in an appropriate manner once the facts of the exchange come in, according to the New York Post.

"We’re going to find out exactly what happened and then we will respond accordingly,” Rubio told reporters. "It is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that. That’s not something that happens every day. We’re not gonna base our conclusions on what they told us. We’ll respond appropriately based on what our information tells us.” 

Vice President JD Vance also told reporters Wednesday that the Trump administration was working to find out more information about the incident, including why the people on the vessel allegedly opened fire on Cubans.

“Hopefully, it’s not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can’t say more because I just don’t know more,” Vance said.

A United States official told the New York Times earlier Wednesday that the boat was a U.S. civilian vessel that was part of a small fleet that was getting relatives out of Cuba and was not a U.S. Coast Guard or Naval vessel.