ReutersA 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."
The girl's next of kin has been informed.
The injured man and woman were taken to hospital after the shootings.
Police said house-to-house and forensic inquiries would be 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".
The girl's death comes after a spate of killings involving guns and knives on Merseyside.
On the same night as the shootings, 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.
How is Merseyside affected by gun crime?
- In 2021-22, Merseyside Police recorded 211 firearm offences, placing it in the top 10 worst affected areas in England and Wales
- That represented a 51% increase on the previous year when there were 140 firearm offences recorded, but it remained lower than pre-pandemic levels, when there were 227 offences recorded
- London (1,066 offences) and the West Midlands (585) recorded the highest number of firearm offences in the last year
- Nationally, police recorded 5,752 firearm offences in the year ending March 2022, which was a decrease on the 6,618 offences recorded pre-pandemic
- Across England and Wales, a total of 35 deaths were reported involving a firearm in the year ending March 2021, with 27 being reported in the year before
Source: Home Office and Office for National Statistics
Labour's Paula Barker, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said the girl's death was "obviously devastating" and the "mindless violence simply has to stop".
"I think, as a city, we come together in adversity and I know people in Liverpool will be absolutely horrified this morning," she said.
Liverpool city councillor Harry Doyle, who represents the area, said what had happened was "absolutely abhorrent" and the community was "in utter disbelief".
He added there was "absolutely no place for this sort of violence on our streets".
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.
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".
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2022-08-23 09:39:51Z
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