15-year-old boy shot to death in Hammond

A 15-year-old boy was shot to death outside his home early Thursday in northwest Indiana.

John Lee Hennington was shot about 1:30 a.m. outside his home in the 1100 block of Cleveland Street in Hammond, according to Hammond police and the Lake County coroner’s office.

Hennington’s sister told officers at the scene that her brother had been outside on the phone at the time of the shooting, police said. She was in the living room and heard what she thought was a vehicle going fast down the street.

The sister then heard what sounded like squealing tires, then a gunshot, police said. She told her mother, who subsequently called police.

Hennington was taken to Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Hammond, where he was pronounced dead at 2:06 a.m., the coroner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.

Anyone with information on the shooting should call Detective Sgt. John Suarez at (219) 852-2981.