A 9-year-old girl shot dead in Liverpool on Monday night died when a man being chased by the shooter broke into her home, detectives say.
Merseyside Police Chief Selina Kennedy said Olivia Pratt Corbell was dead and her mother, Cheryl, was injured when the shooter opened fire on a man who was a complete stranger to her family at the Notty Ash home around 10 p.m. Stated
Olivia’s mother was shot in the wrist and a 35-year-old man had a gunshot wound to the body. The two are currently in hospital and are believed to be under police surveillance.
Kennedy said Olivia’s family was “completely devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken” and that the killing had “shaken” the community.
The incident happened exactly 15 years later Rhys Jones, aged 11, was shot dead in nearby Croxteth. Rhys was walking home from soccer practice when he was accidentally shot by his teenage gunman who targeted a gang rival.
It took eight months for the squirrel killer to be prosecuted, and Paula Barker, Labor MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said the city has a culture of people who don’t “herbivore” criminals.
But he urged people to contact Merseyside police if they had information about Monday’s shooting, telling the BBC: “A nine-year-old girl has lost her life, and that’s a problem.”
Barker said: It is completely unacceptable and this mindless violence must stop. ”
Rhys Jones murder ‘should have been a watershed moment’
“The murder of Rhys should have been a watershed moment, but shockingly, the callous crime of using a gun in complete disregard for the pain it caused Olivia’s family,” President Kennedy said at a news conference Tuesday. there are still people.”
Olivia is the third person in a week to be shot dead in Liverpool.
Sam Rimmer, 22, was shot dead in Toxteth on August 16, while city council employee Ashley Dale, 28, was shot dead in the Old Swan neighborhood on Sunday. Her 16-year-old half-brother was murdered in 2015.
Merseyside police said Olivia died after gunmen opened fire from outside the house and punched her in the chest.
A house-to-house search is underway, and detectives are also seeking CCTV footage from the area to assess ballistic evidence from the scene.
Liverpool has had its fair share of tragic murders.
In November 2021, 12-year-old Ava White was stabbed to death in the city center after trying to stop a teenage boy filming her on Snapchat. The boy, who for legal reasons cannot reveal her name, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder in July.
The Rhys Jones case made national headlines and took eight months to file charges.
Ultimately, 17-year-old Sean Mercer was jailed for a minimum of 22 years and his mother Janet, 48, for three years for perverting justice.
At trial, it was heard that Croxteth Crew gang member Mercer was targeting a 19-year-old rival in the Nogga Dogz gang but accidentally shot Rhys.
PA Media contributed to this report.
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Chris Summers is a UK-based journalist with a wide range of national coverage, with a particular interest in crime, police and law.