Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. A local Chicago affiliate is reporting that she and a group of friends were taking shelter during a rainstorm when someone ran up to them and opened fire.
The man then fled the scene in an automobile.
Hadiya was an honor roll student and played volleyball at King College Prep High School. Most recently she performed as a majorette in the King College Prep marching band in Washington, D.C. for the inaguration last week.
Witnesses interviewed by WBBM-TV told reporters that the Kenwood area is a relatively safe neighborhood, but due mostly to gang wars, gun violence in Chicago has been sharply rising in recent years.
Police report that Hadiya had no known gang affiliation, though it is believed that some of the other teenagers in the crowd with her did have gang affiliation.