An Associated Press photographer was killed and another AP reporter was wounded Friday in Afghanistan after a police officer shot at both of them while the two were sitting their car.

German and Putlizer Prize-winning photographer Anja Niedringhaus, 48, was killed instantly while Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon remains in stable condition, according to the Washington Post.

The duo were veteran journalists and were also very familiar with the region they were covering, AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said in a statement.

"Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there," Carrol said. "Ajna was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss."

The incident occurred while they were traveling in a convoy with election workers in eastern Khost province and was protected by Afghan soldiers and police. A freelancer and a driver accompanied them in their vehicle, according to USA Today.

The freelancer said that the convoy arrived a heavily guarded district compound to deliver ballots to outskirts regions. While they were waiting to get back on the move, a unit commander named Naqibullah approached the car and yelled "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is Great," before firing his AK-47 at them in the backseat.

Sardar Abdul Makinzoi, a provincial council member, said Naqibullah, who was taken into custody, has served on the police force for "a long time," but didn't know the exact amount of years, according to the Post.

U.S. military is trying to evacuate Gannon from an Afghan hospital in Khost, U.S. officials told the Post.

AP President Gary Pruitt issued a memo to his staff in which he reminisced about Niedringhaus being a "spirited, intrepid and fearless" reporter "with a raucous laugh" he'll always remember.

"Anja is the 32nd AP staffer to giver their life in pursuit of the news since AP was founded in 1846," he said. "This is a profession of the brave and the passionate, those committed to the mission of bringing to the world information that is fair, accurate and important. Anja Niedringhaus met that definition in every way."

During the course of Niedringhaus's career, she covered conflict zones in Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Gaza and the West Bank in just a 20-year span. She earned the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for her coverage of the war in Iraq, Today reported.

Prior to working with AP since 2002, she worked for the European Press Photo Agency and began as a freelance photographer for her local newspaper in Hoexter, Germany at the age of 16.