Updated story
The hunt for Hadiya Pendleton's killer continues as the reward for information leading to the shooter's capture more than doubles.
Thursday afternoon, police upped the reward for any info that would lead to a suspect's arrest from $11,000 to $24,000, reports the Tribune. The family's pastor Courtney Maxwell offered up an additional $6,000, bringing the total sum of the reward to $30,000. By Friday, NBC Chicago reports contributions totaled $40,000.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said before a Friday vigil held at Pendleton's King College Prep High School he hoped the money would be a significant enough some to encourage a tipster to speak up.
"The fact is, we need more help," McCarthy said at the vigil, according to DNAinfo.
NBC Chicago reports cops have been "deluged" with tips, and police are chasing down every lead that comes in.
"Fortunately, the community is stepping up and giving us everything that they've got, from rumors to whatever they know," McCarthy told NBC on Friday. "Something's gonna pan out."
The city's top cop as well as Mayor Rahm Emanuel have urged citizens to come forward with any information, reminding potential sources what they say will stay confidential and aiding the investigation is not "snitching."
The 15-year-old was shot in the back and killed as she and her friends took shelter from the rain under a canopy at Vivian Gordon Harsh Park near Oakenwald and 44th Pl. According to the Tribune, McCarthy said the gunman, last seeing fleeing in a white Nissan, mistook the students for members of a rival gang.
McCarthy said none of Pendleton's friends or her had any gang involvement; in fact, the majorette dancer who just last week performed at President Obama's inauguration made an anti-gang PSA before her death.
Pendleton's death entered the national gun control debate earlier in the week when Sen. Dick Durbin mentioned the teen's slaying at a Senate hearing on gun control where he noted, "The confiscation of guns, per capita, in Chicago is six times the number in New York City. Some say the solution is more guns. I disagree."
Local gun control measures took an interesting turn Thursday when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Sen. Bill Cunningham—his former chief of staff—is willing to sponsor legislation that would permit police to confiscate guns from homes of individuals who have had their Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card revoked, reports CBS Chicago.
The law would allow police to enter the home of anyone who has lost their FOID card due to a felony gun conviction and confiscate any remaining firearms in the home.
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