The Slatest

High School Majorette Shot and Killed, Days After Performing at Obama’s Inauguration

A 15-year-old majorette who performed with her high school band at President Obama’s second inauguration was shot in the back and killed in Chicago last night. Police say that Hadiya Pendleton was killed, and a 16-year-old boy wounded, when a male suspect opened fire in a park near their school shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday.

Pendleton belonged to the King College Prep High School band, which performed at a handful of inaugural events in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. The Chicago Tribune with the details:

Most of those who were in the park were gang members, and those in the group did not stay on scene to help after the shootings, according to police. … Neighbors said students from King do hang out at Harsh Park … and that students were there this afternoon before the shooting took place. A group of 10 to 12 teens at the park had taken shelter under a canopy there during a rainstorm when a boy or man jumped a fence in the park, ran toward the group and opened fire, police said in a statement this evening.

Police say that they don’t believe that Pendleton was the intended target of the shooting. According to her friends, she normally didn’t go to the park, but she and her classmates headed that way yesterday afternoon after being dismissed early from class because of exams.