A teenager who was gunned down outside a Sheffield barber’s shop had been shot in the back, police have said.

Tarek Chaiboub, 17, is believed to have been the victim of an increasingly violent feud between two postcode gangs in Sheffield.

South Yorkshire police said Chaiboub was known to them and appeared to have been carrying a gun himself when he was shot. A firearm was recovered close to his body.

Friends of the dead youth said he had been stabbed a week before the shooting in an attack near his home. It is thought he began carrying a gun because he feared he would be attacked again.

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Chaiboub was shot on Friday afternoon at Freddie’s barber shop in the Burngreave area of the city.

Hundreds of tribute messages were left over the weekend on a page dedicated to him on the Bebo social networking site. Several described him in slang terms as a “fallen soljah [soldier]“.

Chief Superintendent Paul Broadbent insisted the city remained a safe place and there was no wider threat of violence to the community.

Mr Broadbent added: "There may well be a gang element in this crime. Some may wish to take the law into their own hands. Let's not do that, we can all genuinely work together on this.

"This is a tragic loss of life and we have resolved to make sure we find out who has committed this crime and the full force of the law is used to convict them. A robust police investigation has been launched.

"We are quite satisfied the victim was the intended subject of the assault and he had been involved in some altercations previously. This city is still a safe place to live, work and visit."

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