Hadiya Pendleton Death: Slain teen who performed at presidential inauguration appeared in 2008 anti-gang video, report says
(CBS) -- Four years before Hadiya Pendleton was shot to death Tuesday at a Chicago park in a possible gang-related attack, the 15-year-old teen appeared in an anti-gang video, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
"Hi, my name is Hadiya. This commercial is informational for you and your future children," Hadiya said in the PSA video.
Hadiya joined other students in a video posted in November 2008 by the Digital Youth Network, a non-profit organization, the Sun-Times reports. It showed footage of a boy slumped on a stairwell, another boy sprawled against a locker and a girl lying on the floor against a wall as Hadiya and others urged teenagers not to get involved in gangs.
"So many children out there are in gangs and it's your job as students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future," she said.
Police said Hadiya and about a dozen other teenagers took refuge under a canopy at the park on Tuesday afternoon when a man climbed a fence behind the park and opened fire on the group. The teens scattered, but Pendleton was shot once in the back as she tried to escape. She died later at a children's hospital.
Police suspect that the gunman may be a member of a gang that considers the park its turf and that he mistook somebody in the group as someone from a rival gang. Police said Hadiya had no arrest record and there were no indications that anyone in the group was gang-affiliated.
Earlier this month, Hadiya reported performed with her high school band at President Barack Obama's Inauguration. Hadiya was an honor student, volleyball player and majorette at King College Prep High School, according to CBS Chicago.
Police have reported no arrests in Hadiya's shooting death.