On 17 September 2006 Sgorbati was gunned down outside her children's hospital just after 12:30 pm when she finished teaching and was crossing the road to go the sisters' accommodation, where three other nuns were waiting to have lunch with her. Her guard and driver Mohamed Osman Mahamud (a father of four) was also killed. The attack was believed to be in response to the controversial comments that Pope Benedict XVI had made in his Regensburg lecture, though this was never confirmed nor substantiated. Her death did come just after 15 September remarks in which the hardline cleric Sheikh Abubakar Hassan Malin told worshippers at his mosque to hunt and kill all those who offended the Prophet Mohammed. Several humanitarian workers and Christian volunteers were slain around this time. Two gunmen emerged from taxis and kiosks and shot her in the back three or four times after the first bullet hit her thigh. Her guard shielded her and was struck down after opening fire with the attackers. One bullet had entered her back and severed an artery which caused a severe and instant hemorrhage. Sgorbati was rushed to the SOS Hospital but later died there on the operating table. Her final words were "I forgive; I forgive; I forgive" which she whispered to Sr. Marzia Feurra. It was at 3 pm that a plane came to take her remains to Nairobi where it arrived at 9 pm; her remains were taken to the Lee Funeral Home.