An NPR affiliate reporter in Kansas City is dead after being struck by what appears to be a stray bullet on Friday, KCUR reported.
Aviva Okeson-Haberman, 24, was found by one of her colleagues who had gone to check on her after she failed to respond to her messages, according to KCUR.
KCUR reported that she was looking for a new apartment in Lawrence, Kan., after she was promoted to a new role for the Kansas News Service.
Okeson-Haberman reportedly joined the NPR affiliate in 2019, covering Missouri politics and government affairs. She graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism that same year.
During her two year tenure at the station, she covered topics ranging from corruption in Clay County and medical marijuana to the conflicting pandemic restrictions in differing Kansas City-area localities.
“Aviva was brilliant,” KCUR news director Lisa Rodriguez said in a statement. “Even as an intern, her approach to storytelling and her ability to hold those in power accountable paralleled many a veteran reporter. She was quiet, which made it all the more satisfying to hear her challenge politicians and hold her ground, even when people in positions of great power tried to belittle her.”
Okeson-Haberman is survived by her parents, two younger sisters and paternal grandparents. Plans for a memorial service are pending, KCUR reported.