Reporter killed by stray bullet through apartment window

A young Missouri reporter has died after a stray bullet flew through her apartment window.

Aviva Okeson-Haberman, a 24-year-old journalist at public radio station KCUR, was struck by the bullet in her first-floor apartment in Kansas City on Friday afternoon, news station KMBC reported.

She was found in the apartment by a colleague who went to check on her after she failed to respond to messages Friday, KCUR reported.

Police said that an individual was taken to hospital life-threatening injuries after officers were called to the scene.

Okeson-Haberman was said to be on life support Sunday, when authorities declined to confirm her identity.

But the journalist’s colleagues subsequently broke the news of her tragic death in a tribute describing her as “brilliant.”

“Even as an intern, her approach to storytelling and her ability to hold those in power accountable paralleled many a veteran reporter,” KCUR news director Lisa Rodriguez said.

Okeson-Haberman had been reporting on government and politics in Missouri, but was preparing to move to Lawrence, Kansas, for a new role covering criminal justice stories for the Kansas News Service.

She had been looking at apartments in Lawrence just hours before the fatal shooting, KCUR reported.

Police have launched an investigation and are urging anyone with information to come forward.