Sean O’Neill
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Tributes, both physical and virtual, to another victim of teenage gang violence were building up yesterday.
Tarek Chaiboub, 17, was shot dead outside a barber’s shop in the Burnage area of Sheffield on Friday afternoon. He was hit in the lower back by a number of rounds fired by a gunman who, one witness said, looked to be aged about 14 or 15.
The teenager, whose parents are believed to be from a Syrian background, was not a youthful innocent. He is believed to have been a member of a gang called the S3 Army, which is engaged in a feud with the S4 Army. The gangs are named after the postcode areas from which they originate.
Less than a week before his death, he was attacked and stabbed near his home in what is thought to have been a clash between the gangs. That attack took place soon after he had attended the funeral of another murder victim, who died after suffering knife wounds in June at a Sheffield nightclub.
The latest victim, who was known to South Yorkshire police because of his involvement in gang activity, had taken to carrying a gun after the stabbing incident. His killer is thought to have followed him into Freddie’s barber shop and shot him before the victim was able to draw his own weapon. He staggered outside and collapsed on the street. Police recovered a gun close to his body. South Yorkshire police refused to say what type of guns were used in the incident.
The city, in which the former Home Secretary David Blunkett is an MP, is not on the Government’s list of eight hotspot areas where the latest antigang measures will be focused.
But this is not the first time that rivalry between the S3 and S4 gangs has turned into gunfire on the streets.
Last October Jonathan Matondo, 16, was shot dead at a recreation ground in the Pitsmoor areas of the city. Nicknamed “Venomous”, Matondo knew the latest victim and also had gang connections.
Tributes at the scene of the latest shooting included flowers, candles and cards referring to the friendship between the two murdered teenagers.
One message left on a tribute page on the Bebo social networking site said: “I bet you and ‘Ven’ are repping Sheff to da fullest up dere man.”
Several messages described the victim, whose nickname was GT, in gangster slang as “a fallen soljah [soldier]”.
The Bebo site dedicated to him is titled “Rest In Peace Terror Kid” and attracted hundreds of messages over the weekend.
The dead youth’s identity was confirmed after a postmortem examination. A police spokesman said: “It showed that he died from injuries caused after he was shot in the back.”
Chief Superintendent Paul Broadbent, of Sheffield police, promised a tough response and cautioned gang members not to become involved in revenge attacks. Mr Broadbent said: “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.”
Mr Broadbent also emphasised that the threat of violence was not widespread in the city. “We are quite satisfied that the victim was the intended subject of the assault and he had been involved in some altercations previously.”
Friends of the dead youth said that he had three siblings and added that his mother had been overseas visiting relatives at the time he was killed.
One told the Sheffield Star: “It’s all to do with gang wars and it’s pathetic, really. They’re supposed to be friends. They spend their days killing their friends.”
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He was my friend's son, He has a wonderful and respectful family; he had some knife steeps a week before? How can people trust the place that they leave in? And let their boys go around with getting die? It's just unbelievable and not fair
jamal tourk, Damascus, Syria
Jess, Hayley and Andrew from Sheffield, you're missing the point. A vastly disproportionate amount of crime and violence is being committed by ethnic minorities. To address the problem we have to be honest about it first.
john, London, England
i think you are all being racist fools. i am 14 years old and when i go to sainsburys to buy my cooking for school i have to take a knife. if i walked across the park at night without my knife i would have been stabbed by now. i feel a need a knife to show people to show my courage. lifes changed.
Jess, Sheffield, England
How lovely for you all to have been born in England and given an english name (un-pronouncable - how ignorant are you?) Maybe, just maybe, a little empathy for the plight of others might help. Imagine having to carry a knife to fit in or protect yourself, these kids are probably terrified.
Hayley, Sheffield, UK
Don't you just long for the return of Good Old England with those great english sounding names like Ryan (Michael), Hanratty, Shipman, Kray, McVittie, Sutcliffe, Brady, Hindley, Nilsen, Christie, Crippen, Neilson!!!! Children killing children is a damning indictment on all of us whatever their names
Andrew, Sheffield,
Almost as guilty as the perpetrators of these horrors, are the inaptly named social-networking sites which deal in the daily gossip of these degenerates to pump up the revenue streams of their advertisers. Of course the Bebomens raise their clean and innocent hands protesting that their invocations to "Stop Street Violence" and "Have Fun, Stay Safe, Be Well" are stern and helpful axioms. Well well, guttersnipes with knives are as good for business as anything else I guess.
Ian, Berwick, UK
After Dunblane nanny Blair removed the right for law abiding citizens (after rigorous police checks) to own pistols for target shooting. Even our olympians have the practise abroad. As 15 year olds can now easily get illegal guns to shoot each other, can the rest of us at least have our sport back?
Graham, Oxford, UK
These folk bring the social mores from their mother countries and will never respond or conform to "European" ways. If we do not want to live in a society ruled by warlords, we need to recover control from them. Knives and guns do not respond to friendly overtures.
Sean, Coventry, UK
The name Mark...anglisized fron Latin "Marcus" someone dedicated to Mars. We're all strangers here.
Jeremy, Cheltenham, U K
What do the majority of these thugs have in common? Obvious, isn't it?
gerry, exeter, england
I'm afraid that Clint, Brighton is not so much misguided as plain wrong. If there is excessive violence in a minority culture, you don't solve it by arresting Chelsea Pensioners. You can only solve it by addressing the problem where it is.
Or you take the US approach and simply ignore it.
jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA
it looks to me as if these kids are looking for meaning in their lives and,terribly misguidedly,finding that meaning in gangs.we need to openly discuss with kids what life is about so they can learn to follow really worthwhile paths.theproblem is,these kids probably don't have anyone todiscuss with.
Marco, KrakOw, Poland
To Clint, Brighton
Fine words, but by pretending that the problem is "randomly pan-social" is to hide the most important aspect of it and thus make solution difficult. We have for far too long pretended about these things for misplaced "politeness" and are now stuck with taboos that prevent us from naming many of the sources of our problems. We can't even WRITE the words !!!
Sean, Coventry, UK
There are some immigrant groups from countries where life is dangerous. Carrying weapons is normal and expected, and "justice" is in the hands of individuals or tribal leaders. It is no surprise that they bring their social mores with them. To pretend otherwise is foolish and dangerous. People who find this notion unpalatable should know that it is - but we have had no choice and now have to deal with it, not pretend that it is not so.
JJ, London, UK
We should be judging people by their actions not their names. By all means have reduced sympathy for a 'victim' who engaged in a seriously criminal lifestyle, but the law abiding majority need to face this problem together and causing division on the basis or origin, race etc won't help this.
Clint, Brighton, UK
Unpronounceable names.
Murderous habits.
Heavy use of social services.
Protection against criticism by government decree.
Exemption from severe punishments by EU human rights law.
But lifelong residence does not entitle you to membership.
Sean, Coventry, UK
Yes Mark, I agree.
Not unusual, though, is it?
Nearly every press report on violent crime has unpronounceable names in the write-up these days.
Good old England is vanishing beneath the waves forever.
Annie , Bath, UK
Look on the bright side. This has saved a fortune in jail costs, unemployment benefit and all the other handouts he would have sponged off us to pay for his life of crime.
Luke, London, UK
good riddance to scum! If he was a gun carrier then he probably would have used it against someone else!
phil, Worcester,
What is happening to England? The response to this rise in murder between teenagers is farcical. The authorities need to regain their control of the streets of British cities through the use of force. These children are obviously completely out of control
Paul, Carlow, Ireland
All good old fashioned English sounding names in the article.
Mark, Leeds,