A mum who was shot dead at her home in east London was trying to protect her children, relatives have said.

Lianne Gordon was gunned down on her doorstep in Vine Close, Hackney, in a suspected case of mistaken identity on Tuesday evening.

Emergency services rushed to the small housing development at around 6.30pm and found three people with gunshot wounds, including a boy, 16, and a 20-year-old man.

The other victim was 42-year-old Ms Gordon and despite the efforts of paramedics, she died at the scene.

Stunned Neighbours say they heard her young daughter shouting: ‘My mum has been shot in the head.’

Family friend Lucinda Ledeatte, 68, said Ms Gordon was trying to protect her son, who is in a wheelchair, from the gunman.

‘We were told she was defending the son and she got shot,’ she told the Evening Standard. ‘She was bubbly and outgoing. A very good mother.’

One resident also claimed: ‘She was a very nice lady. We are devastated. She was trying to protect someone from what we heard. She was not the target.’ 

Her family paid tribute and said: ‘Lianne had a heart of gold, we her family are going to miss her immensely.’

Other locals paid their respects as officers and forensics continued investigations at the scene.

Shohid Auddin, a resident of Vine Close, told reporters Ms Gordon had recently come back from a holiday and said: ‘She was very nice and chatty, she talked to us all the time.

‘She used to talk to everybody, I never saw her upset, she was always smiling.’

Flowers were laid outside a police cordon alongside a card which said: ‘To Lianne: Such a beautiful soul gone too soon!’

The man and boy who were hurt in the attack have both been treated in hospital and are not in a life-threatening condition. 

Detective chief superintendent James Conway said: ‘We believe all the victims of this shooting were known to each other, but they were not related.

‘I want to offer my sincere condolences to the victims’ family and friends and all those affected by this terrible incident.

‘A murder investigation has been launched by homicide detectives from the Met’s specialist crime command.