Gunman who killed Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago park likely mistook the high school sophomore and her volleyball teammates as members of rival gang, authorities say

Pendleton, 15, had participated in Obama inaugural festivities the week before. 'These were good kids by everything that I learned ... Wrong place at the wrong time,' Chicago's top cop said.

Hadiya Pendleton was killed Tuesday, not long after participating in inaugural festivities celebrating President Obama's re-election.

Chicago honor student Hadiya Pendleton, killed one week after performing during inauguration festivities for President Obama, was in the "wrong place at the wrong time," police said Wednesday.
The high school sophomore was enjoying time with volleyball teammates in a local park after finishing exams at King College Prep on Tuesday afternoon when a gunman jumped a fence and opened fire.
Pendleton was shot in the back and died one hour later. Another teen was shot in the leg and a third suffered a minor graze wound.
Authorities say that the gunman mistook Pendleton and her friends for a rival gang. Earlier Wednesday authorities had said that members of Pendleton's group may have had gang affiliations, but cops later said that was not the case.

Nate Pendleton comforts his son Nathaniel, 10, and his wife Cleopatra as they listen to speakers at a press conference in a neighborhood park where his daughter Hadiya was killed.

“Every indication points to the fact that none of the individuals in the group were involved in any sort of criminal activity,” Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a Wednesday news conference. “These were good kids by everything that I learned ... Wrong place at the wrong time.”
Authorities are ofering an $11,000 reward for information that would lead to the capture and conviction of the gunman.
"A child going to school, who takes a final exam, who had just been to inaugural," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "And I think if anybody has any information, you are not a snitch, you're a citizen. You're a good citizen in good standing if you help."

 

 

Nathaniel is comforted by his father.

Pendleton was a member of the King College Prep band, which performed at the Presidential Inauguration Heritage Festival during their three-day stay in Washington one week ago. The band won several awards for their performance, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Friends and family say Pendleton had a bright future and was looking forward to a trip to Paris with her classmates.
"This guy, whoever he was, the gunman ... you took the light of my life," Hadiya's father Nate, who also has a 10-year-old son, told the Chicago Tribune. "Just look at yourself and just know that you took a bright person, an innocent person, a non-violent person."
Pendlelton was the 42nd murder victim in Chicago so far this year. Some 500 were killed in the city last year. President Obama, who is fighting for stricter national gun control laws, owns a home just a mile from where Pendleton was shot.

 

Hadiya Pendleton (center) poses with her dance troop at President Obama's inauguration.

Jay Carney, the President's press secretary, said, "it's a terrible tragedy any time a young person is struck down with so much of their life ahead of them, and we see it far too often."
A petition is calling for Obama to attend Pendleton's funeral.
"As Newtown swirls down the memory hole and passion to implement sane gun control gets sidetracked by whatever the latest Congressional b------t circus will be, President Obama should stand up and take advantage of a tragic opportunity to keep the anti-gun violence movement engaged," it reads.