An honor student who had just performed at the inauguration was shot and killed in Chicago yesterday. Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was one of several students who had been released from King College Prep early because of exams when a man hopped a fence and opened fire.
As the crowd scattered, Pendelton and a 16-year-old boy were struck roughly a block away. As of last night, the boy was in serious condition, but Pendleton passed away at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the back.
During her time at King Prep, Pendleton also played volleyball and was a majorette. She had just traveled to D.C. with the school's marching band to perform at the inauguration last week. sources claim that several teens that were around Pendleton at the time of the shooting were gang members.
Chicago has already exceeded 40 murders in January, putting the city on pace to have its most violent January in over a decade and to exceed last year's homicide rate.
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[via NY Daily News]
