Hackney shooting: Victim Lianne Gordon's best friend says teacher was 'there for everyone'

Lianne Gordon was named by Metropolitan Police as the fatal victim of a triple shooting, which happened in Hackney, east London on Tuesday evening amid alleged gang warfare

A mother killed in a suspected case of mistaken identity was "there for everyone," her best friend has said tonight.

Lianne Gordon, 42, was a "completely innocent person who didn't do anything to anyone," according to nurse Jackie Finnigan, who knew the mother for around 15 years

The 52-year-old nurse insisted Lianne, who was a teacher, wasn't mixed up with gangs. Jackie, a grandmother, added: "She has been taken from us unnecessarily. She was just there for everyone, anyone who needed or wanted anything - who need to go somewhere, needed shopping, needed a babysitter, anything. It doesn't matter what it was, she was there."

Lianne was shot dead as she protected a man - thought to be her son - on a residential street in Hackney, east London, at around 6.30pm on Tuesday. She had not long returned from a family holiday in Jamaica, it is understood. The teacher, who also cared for her child who been has wheelchair user since birth, was described by a neighbour as "a lovely person, always smiling and joking."

And Jackie, who also lives in the area, added: "We moved to the area when my elder son was 10. We all used to help out with [her son]. My elder son, he used to take summers off and he used to take him to the centre there for disabled people... We were best friends. All the kids used to play together and have sleepovers and things like that. We were very close."

The mum said she learnt of Lianne's tragic death via a phone call from a family member, saying it "didn't register because it's Lianne and Lianne isn't involved in things like that". She added: "It didn't really register until my mum called me, screaming on the phone 'Lianne is dead'."

Jackie praised her friend as "an incredible person". She added: "People are upset and angry because this has happened on their doorstep. I'm a nurse and I normally deal with this on a daily basis but you never think it's going to happen to your own. Even though you know it's out there and you know it does happen you never think it's going to happen to someone that close to you.

"I used to live here and it was one of the nicest places you could live, very quiet, everyone helped each other out, my children went to the school across the road and then they went to senior school at the Mossborne academy."

Detective Superintendent Vicky Tunstall, from the local policing team in Hackney, said: "This shocking incident has resulted in the death of a woman and my thoughts are with her family at this incredibly difficult time. My thoughts are also with the two people who have been taken to hospital.

"We are still in the early stages of our investigation and a team of specialist detectives are working to establish what has happened. Officers will remain at the scene overnight and will be in the area over the coming days.

"I do not underestimate the impact this incident will have on people in Hackney and I understand the community will want answers about what has happened this evening. We will share further information as our investigation progresses. Gun crime has no place on the streets of London and we will do all we can to bring whoever is responsible for this despicable crime to justice."