Liverpool shooting: Girl, 9, shot dead and two injured

A nine-year-old girl has died after being shot in Liverpool.

A man was reported to have fired a gun in a house on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot at 22:00 BST on Monday.

The girl was shot in the chest and died in hospital, while a man also suffered gunshot wounds to his body and a woman was shot in the hand.

Merseyside Police has put a cordon in place as officers hunt the gunman. Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said the shooting was "truly shocking".

"No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child in these dreadful circumstances," she said.

"This crime is abhorrent and our communities must come forward and tell us who is responsible.

"This cowardly individual does not deserve to be walking the streets and I would urge those who know anything to speak to us and tell us what they know."

A force spokesman said the girl's next of kin have been informed and were "being supported by specially trained family liaison officers".

He said the injured man and woman were taken to hospital after the shootings and house-to-house and forensic inquiries were being carried out.

West Derby's Labour MP Ian Byrne, whose constituency includes the street, said residents were "all struggling to process it as a community".

He said he would be asking his constituents to "help the police and give them as much information as possible".

Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said it was an "appalling act of evil" and urged anyone with information to "come forward", adding: "Guns have no place in our communities."

A woman who lives nearby, who asked to remain anonymous, said the shooting made her worry for her own children.

"It's devastating. It can't carry on like this," she said.

Rowan Bridge, BBC News

As you walk around the extensive police cordon, shock is etched on people's faces.

Many living locally only found out this morning what had happened.

In the houses nearest, people know the girl who died, but they don't want to speak to the media. Those that do talk of their fear for themselves.

One couple said they heard what they thought were four gunshots last night and were now scared, not just for their young child, but for themselves too.

Another woman, who has lived in the area for decades, said it was maybe time to leave.

The killing of a nine-year-old girl has had a deep effect on those who live here.

The girl's death came after a spate of killings involving guns and knives on Merseyside.

On the same night, a woman was found with a fatal stab wound in her chest in a pub car park in Kirkby, while on Sunday, 28-year-old council worker Ashley Dale died after being shot in the Old Swan area of Liverpool.

Police are also still searching for two people who fled on electric bikes after Sam Rimmer, who was in his early 20s, was shot in Toxteth on 16 August.

Monday was also the 15th anniversary of the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, who was mistakenly shot by a gang member in Croxteth on his way home from football practice in 2007.

Labour's Paula Barker, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said the "mindless violence simply has to stop".

She said the city would "come together in adversity" as it always did and Liverpudlians would be "absolutely horrified" by what had happened.

Assistant mayor Harry Doyle said he was the same age as Rhys Jones and remembered his being equally "as worried and concerned and devastated" as the people he had spoken to earlier.

"It is unthinkable and it's unbelievable that this has happened again 15 years on," he said.

"We thought we'd rid ourselves of this violence and this week we've seen it return."

Home Secretary Priti Patel has offered her "heartfelt condolences" to the girl's family, adding it was "important that anyone with information comes forward"

"The force has my full support and will receive any additional resources they need," she added.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said in a tweet that his thoughts were "with the little girl's family" as it was "devastating news, for them and their community", while Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey tweeted that it was "a heartbreaking tragedy for Liverpool and the whole country".

He added that he was sending his "thoughts and prayers to her family and friends, the other victims of this senseless shooting, and the whole community".

Source: Home Office and Office for National Statistics

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