Update: Conflicting reports about nun’s shooting on Cairo-Alexandria road

A nun was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Tuesday on the Cairo-Alexandria road.

Sister Athenasia of the Malawani family, a nun in her mid-40s, was gunned down as she was being driven to the Mar Girgis Monastery, near the small town of Khatatba. No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility.

“There are several different and conflicting accounts in the media as of the moment,” Boula Abdu, a relative of Sister Athanesia, told Mada Masr. “We still don’t know for certain who else was injured or killed.”

Abdu confirmed that Sister Athenasia had departed from her monastery in Old Cairo on Tuesday, heading to Khatatba with two other nuns, a doctor and driver.

Local media reports cited Bishop Ermia, president of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, who wrote on his social media accounts that “Sister Athenasia suffered a bullet wound and was martyred” on her way to the Mar Girgis Monastery, and that while “a police officer was also martyred, and his son was injured,” two nuns, a female doctor and the driver accompanying Sister Athenasia were unharmed.

Another spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church told Aswat Masriya that the incident was a criminal act as opposed to a hate crime specifically targeting the nun.

This church spokesperson added that Athenasia was shot dead as the vehicle in which she was in was hit by a bullet linked to a gun fight between feuding parties - who were shooting at each other during a car chase along the highway, near Kilometer 58.

Abdu said that “according to some media accounts, the gunfire may have originated in a land dispute between two farming families located along the highway, and may have hit either or both the vehicles as they drove by.”

“The statements issued by Bishop Ermia may very well be true, but they may also be an attempt to contain sensitivities, and sectarian sentiment at this moment,” said Abdu. “These statements may change with the findings of this investigation. These issues should become clearer over the next few days.”

Several other news outlets reported that the casualties were accidental, not targeted.

Abdu pointed out that Sister Athenasia “was always dressed in her nun’s habit and was thus easily identifiable. However, this may also have been mistaken target.”

“The church spokesperson may be following the Interior Ministry’s account of events, as he was not there himself,” Abdu added. “We are awaiting the criminal inquiry, and we still have to investigate if there was indeed criminal intent behind this shooting, and if so the culprits have yet to be identified.”

“I personally cannot rely on the bishop’s account of events alone,” he said. “I need further concrete information and evidence in order to fully understand the circumstances of this fatal shooting. We need to wait and see the findings of the coroners, police investigators and eyewitnesses.”

The Ministry of Interior’s official webpage had not posted any information, as of Wednesday night, regarding the shooting.

On June 30 a Coptic priest, Father Rafael Moussa, was shot dead in the capital city of the North Sinai Governorate. No culprit has yet been identified.

Father Moussa had reportedly just concluded his sermon – on the third anniversary of the June 30 protests against the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule – when he was gunned down.

The Coptic Church openly and officially supported the ouster of Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi and the military-led takeover of the state on July 3, 2013.

In response to Father Moussa’s shooting, the Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement that strongly condemned “all terrorist attacks which threaten the safety of the country and target the unity of its people.”