Seventeen-year-old girl is shot by drive-by gunmen 'for no reason at all' and dies in her mother's arms in London: Teenager becomes the capital's 37th murder victim in just TWO MONTHS (10 Pics)

his is the first picture of a 17-year-old girl who died in her mother's arms after being shot by a drive-by gunman 'in a postcode gang war' amid a surge in murders in London.

The girl, named locally as Tanesha Melbourne, was hanging out with friends when she was shot "for no reason" in Tottenham, north London on Monday night.

Horrified friends say a car "rolled by" and several gunshots were fired from a window, hitting the schoolgirl in the chest.

The girl was comforted by her distraught mum, other family members and friends before she was pronounced dead at the scene, becoming the latest victim in an alarming rise in murders across the capital this year.

One friend said: "She was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war."

Police have launched a hunt for her killer. Her death and other recent killings have sparked fresh calls for an end to gun and knife violence in London.

Friends said Tanesha was shot dead while she was with friends in Chalgrove Road, a residential street near Northumberland Park station, just after 9.30pm.

A close friend, who rushed to try and save her and put her in the recovery position as others called an ambulance, said the teen was shot "for no reason at all".

Tyesha Mingo, 21, rubbed Tanisha's back in her final moments and kept telling her "everything is going to be okay".

Devastated Tyesha said on Tuesday: "I tried to save her, she was a good girl, no trouble. She was in her house before it happened and she had gone out and was just literally chilling with her friends.

"I heard some shooting and I thought it was fireworks.

"Her best friend came running and banged on our door and I ran over and saw Tanesha on the floor.

"I thought she was having a fit and I got her on her side, I was rubbing her back and I didn't even know she had been shot, but I knew she was not breathing."

"My boyfriend's mum called the ambulance, I did not realise she had been shot until the ambulance came.

"There wasn't any blood, the bullet was stuck in her chest in her ribs, we could not see it."

Tyesha added: "She was mumbling something but I could not understand what she was saying.

"Apparently the car just pulled up and then started shooting from the window.

"I was telling her 'everything is going to be okay', I just kept repeating that."

Tyesha assured the dying teen that her mum was coming to the scene.

She added: "I said 'your mum is coming', 'everything is going to be okay'.

"She was not responding, but I could see she was looking at me.

"She was 17, she did not deserve that and her mum did not deserve to watch her daughter die.

"Her mum came before the paramedics, she was screaming and shouting. Her whole family was here."

Tyesha described the victim as a "good girl", adding: "She was so lovely."

Friend Fatima O’Dwyer told how she came running outside after hearing gunshots near her home.

She told the Evening Standard: “Everyone was saying she was talking to a couple of guys and a car rolled by and started shooting up everyone.

“She wasn’t the target, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. For a girl to be caught in the middle is devastating. The family were screaming when the police broke the news.”

Another friend of the murdered girl added: "Tanesha was a very known, very lovable little girl in the community, she was not involved in any sort of problems with anyone.

"I can't believe she's gone. She was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war."

Paramedics battled to save Tanesha but she was pronounced dead at the scene less than an hour after she was shot.

A hero cab driver has told of the moment he ran towards danger to help moments after hearing gunfire.

The 29-year-old man, who refused to give his name, said: "It is a war here, this is not the first time there has been a shooting.

"Her friends came in screaming and I said what is going on?

"They said she had been shot, there were quite a few friends who came into the shop I was in.

"I ran over and she was trying to breathe, it was awful. She was killed for no reason at all."

Neighbours who live opposite where the schoolgirl was killed heard four gunshots and later ambulance sirens.

A neighbour opposite, who refused to be named, said. "I was watching Lenny Henry, it was Easter Monday, and all of a sudden I heard four loud bangs, I know now they were gunshots.

"And then I heard the gunshots, it is awful, this poor girl had her whole life ahead of her."

Tanesha is at least the 39th murder victim in London since February 1, with the recent bloodshed pushing the capital's murder rate higher than New York's for the first time in modern history.

There have been 47 murder investigations in London this year - including 31 fatal stabbings - and at this pace the capital is on pace to record its highest rate in at least 13 years.

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick recently blamed social media for a surge in knife crime in London, particularly among children.

She said gangs were using social media to glamorise violence, and disputes could escalate within minutes on the platforms.

One witness to the fatal shooting in Tottenham said he heard three bangs which sounded like fireworks.

The man, who works in a local shop, said he saw the victim sat with friends following the shooting before police cars and ambulances arrived. He also saw blood on the right side of the 17-year-old's chest.

Another neighbour described the murder as "very sad".

"I heard the bangs because I sleep in the front room," she said. "I thought it was a bomb."

Describing the area, she added: "It's not nice - so many drugs, stabbings, cycles up and down - no respect for people any more."

Tottenham-born hip hop artist Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, expressed shock and sadness after learning of the girl's death.

The 33-year-old wrote on Twitter: "Wish I knew what to say about what’s happening in my ends. North London were [sic] better then this man.

"R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last night. Love & prayers to the family. I’m honestly lost for word [sic]."

Rapper Tinchy Stryder said the girl's death was "too much".

The 31-year-old, whose real name is Kwasi Danquah, tweeted: "17 year old girl... This is all just getting too much now man, serious times in London. Real serious & sad."

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "A 17-year-old girl died after she was found with gunshot wounds in Tottenham.

"Police were called at approximately 9.35pm to Chalgrove road, N17 to reports of a shooting.

"Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service and found the teenage girl suffering from a gun shot wound.

"Despite the best efforts of the emergency services she was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.43pm.

"Her next of kin have been informed.

"Formal identification awaits. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course."

In a separate incident about half an hour later and about two miles away, a 16-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after he was shot outside the Walthamstow Leisure Centre in east London.

A 15-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after being stabbed in the same incident.

Police said the incidents in Tottenham and Walthamstow are not believed to be linked. No one has been arrested in either incident.

The Homicide and Major Crime Command is investigating both incidents.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

Amid the recent surge in killings, more people were murdered in London than in New York for the first time in modern history.

London had 15 murders in the capital in February, compared to 14 in New York.

In March, 22 people were murdered in London, compared to 21 in New York.

For the year so far, London has had fewer murders (47) than New York (55).

Political leaders responded to Tottenham shooting and the rising murder rate by assuring the public they were working to prevent further deaths.

A spokesman for London Mayor Sadiq Khan insisted London is one of the safest cities in the world.

The spokesman said: "The Mayor is deeply concerned by violent crime in the capital - every life lost to violent crime is a tragedy.

"Our city remains one of the safest in the world ... but Sadiq wants it to be even safer and is working hard to bring an end to this violent scourge."

Asked whether Prime Minister Theresa May was concerned about the number of murders in London this year, a Downing Street spokesman said: "These are all tragic cases and our thoughts are with the families of the victims.

"There can be no place in our society for violent crime. The Government is determined to do everything it can to break the cycle.

"We have already consulted on new laws on offensive and dangerous weapons, including banning online stores from delivering knives to residential addresses and making it an offence to possess certain weapons in private. The Government's new serious violence strategy will have early intervention measures at its heart."

The spokesman said Mrs May had made "significant changes" to the police's use of stop and search while Home Secretary, and the Government's position on the issue had not changed.

Figures published in January show police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 - a 21 per cent increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

But government ministers point to findings from a separate crime survey which show overall offending is going down over the long term.

The Home Office will soon publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a "new emphasis" on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a "two strikes" regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop-and-search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.A spokes.