A TEENAGER shot dead in a Sheffield park was a churchgoer who had dreams of becoming a priest, it has been revealed.
The 16-year-old, named this evening as Jonathan Matondo from Burngreave, was gunned down in a recreation area on Nottingham Cliff yesterday.
A post mortem examination revealed he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
In an emotional press conference, his uncle Armand Vibila paid tribute to a "wonderful, funny boy" who regularly attended church.
He said: "He was only 16, much too young to die. He was such a good boy and so funny.
"This should not happen in our community, this should not happen to my Jonathan."
And Rev of his local church Jack Kinsiona, said he "could not understand who someone would want to hurt Jonathan".
He added: "Jonathan was a great person. He had been to my church on many occasions and he had told me 'I want to be a preacher', to which I said yes."
Chief Supt Jon House, district commander for Sheffield, said he was confident the police would be able to make arrests "shortly" but he asked for anyone with information to contact them urgently.
Jonathan, an aspiring local MC, was shot dead at about 7.30pm as police attended a public meeting to discuss ways of improving community relations in the area which has been plagued by gun crime.
Specialist family liaison officers were today at the boy's family home helping his relatives come to terms with the tragedy.
This morning there were also around 30 members of the local community supporting the family.
Today, as locals feared of reprisal gun attacks, armed police were deployed to the streets of Burngreave as the force helicopter circled above.
One 43-year-old dad of two said the incident could have been witnessed by children playing in the nearby park.
He said: "It happened just off a playground and even though it was going dark chances are there would have been children there who would have seen this.
"I heard a commotion outside and went out to see what was going on.
"I saw the young lad's body on the ground, he was obviously dead. There were people shouting 'he's dead, he's dead'.
"Then two armed police arrived almost straight away.
"I feel terrible. I can't stop thinking about what I saw. I didn't hear any shots, I just saw his body afterwards."
Robert Smith, of free community newsletter the Burngreave Messenger, said tensions on the estate had spiralled during the day and that two hours earlier a number of shots were fired on a nearby street.
Describing the shooting as the result of "inner city internal warfare", Mr Smith said youths in the area told him people had "barricaded" themselves into a house to escape the shots.
He claims four youths, all carrying guns, were then spotted waiting outside the house and "popping shots" at anyone who left.
• Anyone with information about last night's shooting should call South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2020 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
• See tomorrow's Star for more on the shooting.
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