Tennis stars' eldest sister shot dead

The eldest sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams was fatally shot early yesterday morning in the Compton district of Los Angeles, the gang-ridden area where the family was raised.

Yetunde Price, 31, was shot shortly after midnight in what police described as a "confrontation" with some local residents.

At least 40 police laid siege to a house on East Greenleaf Boulevard where three suspects with an AK-47 were believed to be. After eight hours, police entered the single-storey house to find that the suspects had fled.

The motive was unknown but detectives who normally deal with gang-related crime were at the house.

Although the parents of the Williams family are separated, the five sisters are famously close; the elder women can often be seen supporting their tennis-playing siblings from the stands.

Ms Price was a personnel assistant to her celebrity sisters. She was also a registered nurse and co-owned a hair salon.

Los Angeles county sheriff's deputy Scott Butler said the police arrived at the scene after hearing several gunshots on patrol.

Ms Price, a divorced mother of three, had been driving a white sports utility vehicle in the company of an unidentified man when the confrontation occurred.

She had been shot in the upper torso and was pronounced dead at hospital. Police were questioning her companion.

At 6am local time, the police surrounded the home where the suspects were thought to have barricaded themselves in.

Coached by their father Richard Williams, Venus and Serena have spoken about their childhood practising on public courts where they could often hear the sound of gunfire in the crime-infested neighbourhood.

They went on to fulfil their father's promise that one day they would overcome adversity and break into an overwhelmingly white, middle-class sport to become the top two women players.

Serena, the younger of the two, became the first to win a grand slam tournament when she romped to victory in the US Open. Venus then won back-to-back crowns at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. In the past two years Serena has come to dominate the sport. Both missed this year's US Open through injury.

The athletes have become multimillionaires from both their results on the tour and from endorsements.