Extra police after teenager shot

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Police have increased patrols in the area of Manchester where a teenager was shot dead.

Detectives believe Jessie James, 15, could have been the victim of a planned execution after he was shot in a Moss Side park.

Residents have described hearing gunfire in the early hours of Saturday.

Supt John O'Hare said: "It is still early days. We do not know of any motive yet, but we believe this was a planned attack."

It's absolutely terrifying to have this on your own doorstep, I'm seriously thinking of moving house Moss Side resident It is the second fatal shooting in Moss Side in less than three months.

"If there are people that can stop this and have the power to stop it, I'm asking them to examine their consciences, think about the family, think about the community, and have the strength to put a stop to it," said Supt O'Hare.

"I want the people who pulled the trigger to realise what the family are going through."

Detectives are now waiting for the results of forensic tests and the post-mortem examination to establish how many shots were fired and what type of weapon was used.

A resident said: "I use the park myself and take my children there in the day, but never at night.

"This place (Moss Side) just gets worse and worse - no matter how much people try to improve it we still have guns and gangs.

The area has been sealed off while forensic experts investigate

"It's absolutely terrifying to have this on your own doorstep, I'm seriously thinking of moving house."

The resident of a house 50 yards down the road said: "I heard shots last night then heard on the radio this morning about the boy.

"He's only 15, he should be tucked up in bed, he's still at school, not out late at night around here."

The Raby Street area has been sealed off for investigators to carry out a detailed search around the crime scene.

The shooting of Jessie, who lived in Greame Street, Moss Side and attended the nearby Manchester Academy High School, comes less than three months after 45-year-old Ernest Gifford was gunned down at his home on the street while his partner and her children were in the property.

And last month, three men were shot and wounded in two separate incidents in Moss Side.

Concern is now mounting among locals the area could once again be a centre of gun violence.