University of California, Davis officials say that a postdoctoral researcher in the university’s plant biology department was killed in Ethiopia when the vehicle she was riding in was struck by rocks thrown by protesters.
The university said in a statement on Wednesday that Sharon Gray was in the east African country for a meeting about her research when she was killed Tuesday while traveling in a car in the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa.
The university said what happened was unclear but spokesperson Andy Fell confirmed to the theSacramento Bee Gray was the American the US Embassy in Ethiopia confirmed was killed in an area that has seen months of deadly protests.
UC Davis says another member of the plant biology department who was traveling with Gray was not injured in is headed home.
This is the first foreigner killed in the massive anti-government protests that have claimed the lives of hundreds of protesters since November 2015.
