A 17-year-old girl was shot and killed Wednesday night while answering the door to her northwest Indiana home during a movie night with her family, family members said.
At about 11:30 p.m., Chloe Bell was fatally shot near Chestnut Avenue and 175th Street in Hammond, according to the Lake County Coroner's office.
The teen girl was watching movies with her family when others in the home said someone knocked on the door.
As Bell went to ask who it was, shots rang out, family said. The front door of the home could be seen riddled with bullet holes.
"I was about to open the window to see who it was and then they started shooting," Bell's stepfather Calvin Peterson said. "Bullets came through the window upstairs, and I hurried up and hit the floor."
Bell was shot in the face and chest, family said. She was taken to Community Hospital in Munster where was pronounced dead, according to the coroner's office. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Bell, who was the youngest of four siblings, attended the Area Career Center and was associated with Gavit High School. She would have turned 18 in January and had hopes of going on to study criminal justice, family members said.
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Police are investigating the shooting but no one was in custody as of Thursday morning. Details on a potential motive or suspect were not immediately known.
Check back for details on this developing story.
