President Mohamed Morsy expressed his deepest condolences to the family of the police officer who was killed early on Friday directing traffic outside the mosque in which Morsy was praying in celebration of the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
According to a statement released by the presidential spokesperson, Yasser Ali, an investigation is ongoing. Morsy asked for “God’s mercy and forgiveness for the deceased, and patience and solace from his family.”
The policeman, Brigadier General Osama Hamed Atwa, was struck by a speeding car which failed to stop after colliding with Hamed Atwa. He was rushed to Ain Shams hospital for urgent treatment but succumbed to his wounds shortly after.
According to the Interior Ministry, security forces pursued the fleeing vehicle and apprehended the driver shortly after. Hamed Atwa was also the director of planning and administration at the Cairo Traffic Authority. The Interior Ministry claimed the driver, identified publicly by the ministry as 22 year-old Walid M, was intoxicated, and had already been convicted in absentia to two years imprisonment for earlier drink-driving charges.
Hamed Atwa was given a military funeral shortly after Friday prayers at the mosque in which Morsy had been praying, the Rahman Al-Rahim mosque. Aside from the family of the deceased, the interior minister, Ahmed Gamal Eddin, attended alongside several high-profile members of the Interior Ministry. The government has called Hamed Atwa a martyr.
