Burundi’s Environment Minister Emmanuel Niyonkuru was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on Sunday morning. The 54-year-old was reportedly on his way home in the capital of Bujumbura when he was attacked. Officials said that this was the first murder of a senior minister in almost twenty years of political violence in the country.

Police spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye said they were questioning a woman who was with the minister when the incident took place. Nkurikiye said those responsible for the incident would not go unpunished. President Pierre Nkurunziza offered his condolences to the minister’s “family and all Burundians”.

Hundreds of people, including army officials, have been killed since Nkurunziza won a third term in 2015. Protestors claimed that his reign was unconstitutional and expressed fears that the violence in the country would get escalated under his reign. The region is still recovering from the atrocities committed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.