A teenager was being questioned by detectives last night after a 15-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Kadeem Blackwood was shot twice in the chest at close range as he walked with friends beside a park in Derby on Tuesday evening. The teenager may have been killed simply for showing disrespect to a member of a rival gang. It is the first fatal gang shooting in Derby.

The injured youth was taken to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary but died soon afterwards. Police conducted raids on two addresses in the city early yesterday and arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

There has been sporadic violence, including nine gun-related incidents, over the past year in Derby between two gangs the Browning Circle Terrorists and the A1 Crew but this is the first fatality. Detectives fear that the city is facing levels of gun violence similar to nearby Nottingham. It is understood that the dead youth was a member or associate of the Yunga Browning Circle Terrorists, an offshoot of the original gang.

It is believed that the killer was in a car with others when it pulled up to the entrance of the park where Kadeem and his friends were talking. The gunman approached the teenager and words were exchanged before the shots were fired.

The dead boy’s parents, Steven Blackwood and Helen Smith, who are both believed to be social workers, were said to be devastated by their son’s death.

Last night they said in a statement: “We are distressed about the loss of our precious young boy. We ask members of the community to offer the police any assistance they can. This is an extremely traumatic time and we are too upset to comment further.”

Bernard Blackwood, his grandfather, said: “This is very sad for us. It’s such a waste of life. I don’t know if he’d been in trouble but for him to be shot is unbelievable.”

Yesterday friends spoke affectionately of Kadeem as a natural joker, who loved rap music and had taken up boxing for a youth organisation. One friend said: “It’s crazy. This is Derby, not New York. Somebody has been watching too much American television.”

Another friend said: “There had been a lot of name-calling and insults but I never thought it would end up like this.”

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Goodman said that the shooting as a dreadful crime. “We understand Kadeem was walking through the park with a group of friends when they were approached by another group of males. Some sort of argument occurred and a shot was fired, at which stage a number of males involved in the incident ran off,” he said. “An incident room has been set up to deal with this investigation and all available resources are being committed to solve this murder.”

It is understood that Kadeem had been a pupil at Chellaston School between 2005 and December last year. Ray Ruszczynski, the head teacher, described him as a popular pupil. “It is very sad when tragedies like this take place, especially in someone so young,” he said.

The murder has shocked residents on the Austin estate in the suburban Sunny Hill area of the city. Chris McIlroy, a bricklayer, said: “I have got two sons aged 2 and 1 and I take them to the park to play on the swings, though it is worrying when stuff like this happens close by.”

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