An e-fit picture of the attacker

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "The doctors have allowed her home, she has made a good recovery and will continue recovering with her family."

It is thought she only escaped death by centimetres after moving her head at the last moment.

Speaking at a news conference, on Friday, Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Mace said it was a "serious attack".

He said: "The excessive force used makes it vitally important that we arrest the suspect at the earliest opportunity."

His victim joined police in her concerns he could strike again.

On Thursday she told police: "I am shocked that anyone would resort to shooting a complete stranger over something as trivial as a mobile phone."

The teenager, from Waltham Forest, east London, was approached by a man who stopped her and demanded her Nokia 3310 phone at 1730 GMT on 1 January.

She refused and struggled with the attacker as he grabbed it from her hand.

She had been walking to a friend's house in Walthamstow at the time and was left bleeding on the pavement by the gunman.

Jamaican appearance

Neighbours who heard the shot ran out and then called an ambulance.

The attacker is described as black, 5ft 6ins tall and wearing a black skullcap, silver bracelet, dark top and black trousers.

He was aged between 22 and 23, of Jamaican appearance with dark brown eyes and a defined jawbone.

He was wearing a black shiny hat, black shiny jacket with ribbed cuffs and neck, black jeans and a tight black polo neck shirt.

He also had a silver coloured bracelet on his right wrists.

The shooting happened in busy Lea Bridge Road and police believe passers-by may have seen the gunman escaping.