Girl who performed at Obama's inauguration gunned down a week later in Chicago

[pwaldo]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/01/...hborhood-park/

Mayor Rahm Emanuel met Wednesday night with relatives and classmates of the honor student who was slain in the Kenwood neighborhood on Tuesday, a week after she had performed with her school band at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington.

CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports the victim, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, was taking shelter from the rain with a group of 10 to 12 teenagers under a canopy in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park on the 4500 block of South Oakenwald Avenue around 2:30 p.m., when someone jumped a fence, ran up to them, and opened fire.

Police have said neither Hadiya nor the people she was with were in a gang, but it is believed the shooter mistook someone in the crowd for a rival gang member, and shot at them.

Coincidentally, Hadiya had appeared in a public service announcement about gang violence in late 2008.

Earlier Wednesday, the mayor, in response to questions about murders and violent crime, said “we’re gonna make changes.”

He was set to announce some of those changes on Thursday with Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. They will hold a public meeting, where they will reveal plans to put more police officers on the streets.

The moves are expected to mirror recommendations made last week by the city’s inspector general, who suggested having civilians take over the administrative jobs handled by nearly 300 police officers.

Just days before she was killed, Hadiya performed with her high school band at the parade for President Obama’s second inaugural celebration in Washington.

“She is what is best in our city. A child going to school, who takes a final exam, who had just been to the inaugural,” Emanuel said. “You look at her, you look at how she talked about her future. She took her final exams. She had dreams. And this gang-banger, this punk took that away from Cleopatra. They took it away from Hadiya. And in my view, they took it away from the city of Chicago.”

CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports the park where Hadiya was shot is just blocks from King College Prep High School — where she was an honor student, volleyball player, and majorette with the school band.

Hadiya, who dreamed of becoming a lawyer, was part of the school’s Crystal Elegance marching band’s majorette team, which performed at President Barack Obama’s second inaugural last week.

An $11,000 reward was being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information on the shooting can call a community tip line that has been set up for this case: 1-800-U-TELL-US (883-5587). You can also call Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8380.

A witness said the teens who were with Hadiya at the time of the shooting scattered and ran out of the park in a panic after the shots were fired. Hadiya and a boy who also was shot collapsed about a block away, in front of one of the upscale condo row houses that line Oakenwald.

Hadiya was struck once in the back, and died at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital less than an hour later.

The teenage boy who was shot was struck in the leg. He also was being treated at Comer Children’s Hospital.

A neighbor who lives next to the park said he heard six shots, and saw a man he believes was the killer. The man was wearing a blue hoodie and blue jeans. The witness said the man drove off in a white Nissan.

Police said they were still working on a description of the killer Wednesday night.

[JustAlex]

Unreal....we're all just killing ourselves senselessly.

I often imagine what the U.S would look like with little to no guns....(Kinda like Japan).

Would we also have only about 10 gun related deaths a year like they do?

Or would we still have 11,000? (for you math wizards out there, that's more than 30 gun deaths PER DAY!)

Oh....but this is where the Far right will tell me that a nation that isn't armed will quickly fall to a tyrannical government, and we'll basically become Nazis!

Hey Japan, is it really that bad living in a tyrannical count.....OH WAIT!

Japan is one of the most peaceful nations on earth, their government doesn't get into the nonsense that the U.S does, and they're not enslaving their population either....also, their life expectancy is almost 5 years MORE than the average American! (82.9 to 78.2).....probably because little kids don't get shot with a military style assault rifle in school!

Yeah....I dream of a USA with zero guns....or at the very least not having to worry about getting shot at the movies, school, church, the mall, work, a parking lot, a grocery store, or my own home.

I guess this is so common in the U.S....that it would be like saying....I dream of a USA without McDonalds.

[shrewsbury]

they have some of the strictest gun ordinances and one of the highest gun violence rates

[mrveggieman]

Sorry Alex but guns just like religion are a part of American culture and are here to stay. Besides scumbags like the coward who murdered the little girl will still have access to guns since he is a criminal and as we all know criminals do not obey the law. No I say when we catch this clown he needs to be tourted and executed int he worst way possible. And don't give me any crap about protection against cruel and unusual punishment. This clown had no problem at all taking a childs life why shoule we have any regard for his feelings?

[Wickabee]

I'm surprised no one shouted "false flag!"

And yes, the problem is a culture of guns, not their existence. The entire nation is based on Guns. You don't mention God, but you do mention bombs and guns. The US is a culture of violence, not just gun violence.

Basically you guys are screwed until you all change your thinking and it's never going to happen.

In short, the US is screwed.

[shrewsbury]

The US is not screwed. Once the economy comes back, we won't here about the rest. classic deflection

[Wickabee]

The US is not screwed. Once the economy comes back, we won't here about the rest. classic deflection

Like the "outrage" over Benghazi?

So what you're saying is, once people are happier about their money they won't care about children dying anymore. Gotcha. Good priorities.

[ajcorleone]

Could not have said it better.Torture those who hurt children

Sorry Alex but guns just like religion are a part of American culture and are here to stay. Besides scumbags like the coward who murdered the little girl will still have access to guns since he is a criminal and as we all know criminals do not obey the law. No I say when we catch this clown he needs to be tourted and executed int he worst way possible. And don't give me any crap about protection against cruel and unusual punishment. This clown had no problem at all taking a childs life why shoule we have any regard for his feelings?

[pwaldo]

Unreal....we're all just killing ourselves senselessly.

I often imagine what the U.S would look like with little to no guns....(Kinda like Japan).

Would we also have only about 10 gun related deaths a year like they do?

Or would we still have 11,000? (for you math wizards out there, that's more than 30 gun deaths PER DAY!)

Oh....but this is where the Far right will tell me that a nation that isn't armed will quickly fall to a tyrannical government, and we'll basically become Nazis!

Hey Japan, is it really that bad living in a tyrannical count.....OH WAIT!

Japan is one of the most peaceful nations on earth, their government doesn't get into the nonsense that the U.S does, and they're not enslaving their population either....also, their life expectancy is almost 5 years MORE than the average American! (82.9 to 78.2).....probably because little kids don't get shot with a military style assault rifle in school!

Yeah....I dream of a USA with zero guns....or at the very least not having to worry about getting shot at the movies, school, church, the mall, work, a parking lot, a grocery store, or my own home.

I guess this is so common in the U.S....that it would be like saying....I dream of a USA without McDonalds.

Do you honestly think that if you removed every gun from America that we would become Japan?

We still stab more people to death with knives than Japan, we still beat more people to death with bats than Japan, we still kill more people with axes than Japan, we still beat more people to death than Japan, we have more people who run around nude trying to bite the faces off of people than Japan, etc.

[Wickabee]

Do you honestly think that if you removed every gun from America that we would become Japan?

We still stab more people to death with knives than Japan, we still beat more people to death with bats than Japan, we still kill more people with axes than Japan, we still beat more people to death than Japan, we have more people who run around nude trying to bite the faces off of people than Japan, etc.

Yeah alex! Stop trying to change your country for the better and realize that Japan will always be better than the USA!
It's the American way!