The uncle of a teenager shot dead in a Sheffield playground tonight spoke of his despair over the killing.

Jonathan Matondo, 16, was shot in the head and found dead by paramedics in the Nottingham Cliff recreation area in the city's Burngreave area at about 7.30pm yesterday. Police said he came from a respected local family.

Armond Vilila, Jonathan’s uncle tonight appealed for those witnesses to come forward.

He said: “He was only 16 - too much young to die - and much loved by his friends, family and all the community.

“He was such a good boy, so funny.

“This should not happen to our community, this should not happen to my Jonathan. So I wish to ask to anyone to assist the police.”

Local people reported hearing gun shots in the area up to two hours before he is believed to have been killed.

Officers said there were many potential witnesses in the park at the time.

Gun crime is relatively rare in Sheffield, the scale of the problem not as serious as in Manchester, Nottingham or London, but there have been a number of shooting incidents in Burngreave and the neighbouring Pitsmoor and Spital Hill areas in recent years.

Chief Superintendent Jon House, Sheffield’s police commander, said there had been further shooting incident 24 hours earlier in which no one was injured. Officers are examining links between the two incidents and another shooting that injured a 16-year-old in the area about six weeks ago.

Despite Mr House’s reassurances that Sheffield was the “safest city in the country” people in Burngreave said there was local gang problem.

Mr House, speaking close to the scene in Andover Street, was asked repeatedly about whether there were problems with gangs in the area and about local residents’ belief the killing was related to drug dealing.

He would only say the investigation was at an early stage. “We are determined to solve this crime quickly,” he said. “We are not expecting retribution but we want to reassure local people.”

Local resident Douglas Johnson, an advice worker, said everybody in the area thought the death was related to drug dealing.

“This is what happens when drug dealing activity goes on. Kids get involved and start playing with guns,” he said. “It’s a very sad case. It’s very shocking. It’s quite a good area really. It’s had its bad reputation and obviously something like this does not help, but it’s really not typical.”

One man who lives very close to the park and knew the dead boy said the shooting was related to gang rivalry between different postcode areas of the city.

He said: “It is about gangs. It’s that simple. It’s S3 versus S5 versus S4.

"This was all about one lad from one area winding up those from another area.

“He was good lad. It’s terrible this should have happened to him. Someone’s got to do something about it.”

The shooting is the latest in a string of murders of young people this year. Four days ago, student Philip Poru, 18, was shot dead as he sat in a silver Ford Fiesta with an 18-year-old friend near Woolwich Common, Plumstead. Mr Poru was the 21st teenager to die of gun or knife crime in London this year

Two months earlier Nathan Foster, 18, was shot by an armed motorcyclist in Brixton, south London. Billy Cox and Michael Dosunmu, both 15, and James Andre Smartt-Ford, 16 were shot dead within a fortnight of each other in south London in February.

In Liverpool Rhys Jones, 11, was shot and killed as he walked home from football training in August.

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