An Egyptian woman who worked for the United Nations as a freelance consultant was fatally shot in the head while driving through an upscale Cairo neighborhood on Sunday, February 12, security officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether the woman, identified as 41 year-old Nermeen Gomaa Khalil, was targeted or killed in a random crime. Police said she was shot by unidentified gunmen passing in another car, but no one has been arrested.

It was one of the more serious attacks in a crime spree over the past year after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and the withdrawal of police from the streets, which led to a deterioration in security, AP reported.

The crime wave has focused mainly on personal robberies, and more recently a string of bank robberies or attempts, while murders have been rare.

During the 18-day uprising that led to Mubarak’s ouster, more than 23,000 prisoners were either let out or broke out of prison during a collapse of the police force. Police say that most of the crimes are being committed by some 5,000 escapees who have yet to be caught.

The police largely vanished from the streets during the uprising and though many have since returned, some parts of the city - in particular upscale districts - are much more dangerous than they were under Mubarak’s authoritarian rule.