Chicago police seeking tips in girl's slaying

The reward for information about last week's slaying of Hadiya Pendleton has climbed to $40,000. But people may be afraid to come forward because they don't want to be thrust into a national media spotlight or because they are concerned for their own safety, police, activists and minister said Monday.

Hadiya, a drum majorette, was killed in a park about a mile from Obama's home on Chicago's South Side. Police say the shooter hopped a fence, ran at a group of about a dozen young people and opened fire, killing the girl. No arrests have been made.

"We've got a ton of tips," some of them from gang members, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a news conference Monday. "Nothing at this point has panned out for us."

Still, McCarthy reiterated that a "no snitch code" in the community could be preventing people from providing police with tips.

Hadiya's death has brought renewed attention to Chicago's homicide rate. The nation's third-largest city just had its deadliest January in more than a decade. Chicago had 506 homicides last year, the most since 2008.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and prominent activist on the city's South Side, has angrily called out anyone who might be protecting the gunman. But Pfleger also acknowledged that people more reluctant to come forward with information about a slaying that has attracted so much attention.