A "watershed moment" has been reached with the killing of a 15-year-old schoolboy in a case of mistaken identity, police said.
Officers and community leaders renewed their appeals for help in solving the murder of Jessie James, who was gunned down in a park in Manchester's notorious Moss Side district.
It is thought that Jessie had no involvement with the local gangs who operate in the area and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Chief Superintendent Dave Thompson, Divisional Commander covering the Moss Side area, pleaded with the community to come forward with any information.
He said: "I ask people to examine their conscience. We have reached a watershed moment in the community with this terrible loss of a life for someone so young. We have had great success in the past in working with the community to help solve similar cases and we hope for the same again.
"The police and the community need to unite in bringing the guilty parties to justice."
Speaking at a press conference, he denied that Moss Side had a specific gang problem. "We do not have a problem in this part of Manchester. Gun-related crime is a common problem not just in Manchester but in many cities across Britain."
Community workers also said today that Moss Side was not riddled with gangs. Erinma Bell, chair of the Community Alliance for the Renewal of the Inner South Manchester Area (Carisma), said: "I have lived here all my life and I do not feel people are scared to walk the streets.
The search of the park where Jessie was blasted three times with a semi-automatic pistol in the early hours of Saturday morning continues. He was gunned down behind a basketball court in Moss Side Community Park, close to a youth club.
His mother, Barbara Reid, 47, a member of a local Seventh Day Adventist church, has said her son was a "lively, bubbly boy who was loved by everyone".
