City's history of gun crime

The 14-year-old was shot dead in St Ann's early on Saturday morning in an apparently random attack.

Classmates at Elliot Durham School signed a book of condolence after a special assembly on Monday.

Headteacher Valerie Stuart said: "She had immense potential and was one of our brightest students."

Unknown motive

Mrs Stuart said: "She had a wide circle of very good friends who loved her and all are immensely saddened by the violent and cruel way in which her life was ended.

"We, as a school, stand together to ask for peace in our society and to demand justice for Danielle's death.

"St Ann's is a strong community and a powerful community and it is a time when we need to knit together as never before."

Teachers at the school would speak to Danielle's classmates in small groups, she said.

Flowers and a teddy bear have been placed where Danielle was shot

Danielle's grandfather, Alvin Beccan, spoke briefly at his home: "It's been very rough. Her mother is just about coping. We are all very, very shocked."

Superintendent Dave Colbeck said police had not yet determined a motive for the killing.

"Danielle was not part of any drug or gang culture - she was an innocent girl on her way home from a fair.

"I shudder to think that someone has targeted a 14-year-old girl - and we need to establish a motive."

Steve Green, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, toured the area near the shooting on Monday.

He said: "Our message around St Ann's and around the wider city of Nottingham is we can detect this crime, we are very confident of that.

"But we need the public's help to do it and the more people who come forward and make statements and give evidence, the more certain we become that we will get a sucessful result quickly."

Potential witnesses

Danielle was walking home from Nottingham's Goose Fair when she was killed.

She died later in the Queen's Medical Centre from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Nottinghamshire Police - who on average dealt with more than one shooting a week in 2003 - want information about a gold-coloured car, believed to have blacked-out windows, which is thought to have carried the killer.

Officers are also keen to trace members of a 30-strong group of youths who were nearby when Danielle was shot.