Teen girl who performed at Obama inauguration killed in Chicago shooting
CHICAGO A teenage girl who attended presidential inauguration activities in Washington earlier this month was shot to death at a Chicago park.
Police say 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot in the back Tuesday and later died at University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. An unidentified boy was shot in the leg and is being treated at the hospital. No arrests have been made.
Hadiya was a majorette with the King College Prep High School band, which performed at several inaugural events. CBS Chicago affiliate WBBM-TV reports she was also an honor student and volleyball player.
Police say Hadiya was one of about 12 teens under a canopy at a park to avoid the rain when a man jumped a fence, ran toward the group and opened fire. The man fled the scene in an auto. Police say the gunman was not aiming at the girl.
Witnesses told WBBM-TV that shootings are rare in the neighborhood.
"We hardly ... have any crime," said Jennifer West, who lives close to where the incident occurred. "There's been a few break-ins over the past two years since we've been here, but nothing that's ever caused alarm."
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Chicago has experienced a spike in gun violence over the past couple of years, mostly motivated by gang wars. The city's homicide count eclipsed 500 last year for the first time since 2008.