A 16-year-old girl who was dedicated to her schoolwork and wanted to work in forensic science was among the seven people killed in shootings across Chicago over the weekend. Twenty-nine others were wounded in non-fatal shootings.
Shaquise Buckner was shot in the head early Sunday morning when a drive-by shooter opened fire on her and a 20-year-old male she was walking with in Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood, DNAinfo reports. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, which took place blocks away from her home.
Police say the 20-year-old friend, who sustained non-fatal wounds to his head and back, is a documented gang member and may have been the target of the shooting, according to ABC Chicago.
Buckner was was not affiliated with any gangs, police told the Chicago Tribune. She was an honor roll student and had been preparing to begin her junior year at Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy on Tuesday, CBS Chicago reports. A fan of "CSI," she hoped to one day work to help solve crimes.
"Please come forward," Buckner's mother, Katrina Goodwin, told CBS. "She didn’t deserve this."
Friends, classmates and family of Buckner gathered Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil for the teen, who was remembered as a good student and friend.
Sharon Mallory, Buckner's cousin, was there at the scene of the shooting.
"I sat on that ground and talked to my cousin, I told her 'I love you so much,'" Mallory said, according to ABC. "I told her I'm so, so angry with this world, it's so devastating what is going on."
No arrests have been made in Buckner's shooting death as of Monday afternoon.
Among the other victims of gun violence in Chicago over the weekend was another 16-year-old, Jason Seballos, who was fatally shot along with 21-year-old Damian Rodriguez in the city's Logan Square neighborhood Saturday evening, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.