Nine-year-old girl shot dead in Liverpool as Merseyside Police launch murder investigation
A nine-year-old girl has died after being shot in an 'abhorrent' crime in Liverpool.
Merseyside Police says it was called to a house on Kingsheath Avenue in the Dovecot area at 10pm on Monday, 23 August, after reports an "unknown male" had fired a gun inside the property.
The girl suffered a gunshot injury to the chest and was taken to hospital in a critical condition and later died.
A man also suffered gunshot wounds to his body, and a woman suffered a gunshot injury to her hand during the incident.
They have both been taken to hospital for treatment for their injuries.
The schoolgirl’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained family liaison officers.
An investigation is underway and house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are in the process of being carried out.
A large police cordon is also in place around the scene.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said: "This is a truly shocking incident in which tragically a young and innocent girl has been shot and sadly died.
"Our thoughts and condolences go to her family and friends at this very difficult time.
"No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child in these dreadful circumstances.
"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 so that we can put the person responsible behind bars where they belong.
"We are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry as a matter of urgency and would ask for dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from anyone who lives, works or was visiting the area of Kingsheath Avenue last night."
Reacting to the shooting on social media Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson urged anyone with information to come forward, calling the shooting an "act of evil".
This incident follows a spate of killings involving guns and knives on Merseyside.
The same night as the Dovevot shootings, two men were arrested over the fatal stabbing of a woman in her 50s in Cherryfield Drive in Kirkby.
In a separate incident, 28-year-old Knowsley Council worker Ashley Dale died after being shot in the Old Swan area of Liverpool in the early hours of Sunday.
And police are still searching for two people who fled on electric bikes following the fatal shooting of a man in his early 20s in inner-city Toxteth late on 16 August.
Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC or call @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting log 1083 of 22 August.
The Kingsheath Avenue incident also comes 15 years to the day since schoolboy Rhys Jones was murdered in Liverpool while walking home from football practice, on 22 August 2007.
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