Olivia Pratt-Korbel was standing right behind her mother, Cheryl, who was trying to keep the gunman out. Police said they believe the escaped criminal saw a “cut of light” as Olivia’s mother opened the door to see what the noise was – before rushing inside to escape the attacker. But the killer also broke into the house, having fired a shot that hit the mother in the wrist before going through her and into Olivia’s chest at around 10pm on Monday night in the Dovecot area. Once inside the home, the gunman shot the gang member again before fleeing. Olivia Pratt-Corbel has been named by police as the nine-year-old victim of a shooting in Liverpool on Monday. Photo: unknown/Telegraph Police later arrived and rushed Olivia to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she died. Crime crossed “every boundary”, said Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside Police. The girl’s family had been “devastated” by the shooting and were “absolutely devastated, heartbroken and devastated”. Police believe the 35-year-old intended victim is a known member of an organized crime group whose main commodity is drugs. He is then believed to have called at least two associates on a mobile phone, who got into an Audi car and took him to hospital. A senior source said he fled the house “like a coward”, walking past a dying Olivia and her injured mother on the way out after bringing the carnage to them while trying to escape a gangland execution. Detectives are now at his hospital bedside trying to talk to him. Armed officers are on standby to arrest or shoot the gunman if spotted. Bouquets of flowers and heartfelt cards began to be left on Olivia Street, Kingsheath Avenue, on Tuesday. A message on one, placed near the police tape, read “Words cannot describe how this tragedy has turned this city upside down”, while a nearby card – written in a child’s handwriting – said: “To Olivia, I feel sorry for you”. left.” A neighbor said he saw the attack from his bedroom window and called police. “We heard the gunshots first and looked out the window and saw a lad chasing someone down the street,” he said. “Then the gunman pushed open the door and let himself in and then we heard another shot. It was just all the panic.” Kennedy told the Guardian extra armed officers had been rushed to the area from the north-west to prevent any gangland reprisals after three fatal shootings in a week – two of them innocent victims of organized crime strikes. He said officers were also hunting for the gang lord who ordered the street hit, those who took the 35-year-old to hospital, whoever provided the gun and anyone else connected to the killing. Kennedy told the Guardian: “It is absolutely terrifying that a nine-year-old child is not safe at home. The 35-year-old man saw the light as the door opened and thought: “This is somewhere I can try to hide and get away from the gunman.” on our streets”. But he added that “history teaches us” gangs will “seek retribution”. He said police had “buckets of resources” and that “doors will be kicked in” – with raids planned to disrupt reprisals and other gang activity. Rebecca Wilkinson, Olivia’s headteacher at St Margaret Mary Catholic School in Huyton, said the whole school community was in shock and disbelief. “Olivia was a much loved member of our school. She had a beautiful smile, a great sense of humor and a bubbly personality. He was kind-hearted and did everything to help others. She loved acting and was recently in the school production of The Wizard of Oz.” The shooting comes 15 years since the murder of Rhys Jones, an 11-year-old boy caught in the crossfire and killed in Croxteth Park as he walked home from soccer practice. This should have been “a watershed moment in the fight against gun crime and the use of guns on our streets,” Kennedy said. Kennedy said the gunman began “firing a number of shots with no regard for Olivia and her family that had nothing to do with the gunman or the man who forced his way in.” Kennedy appealed to criminals to come forward, given the horrific nature of the crime. He said: “All boundaries have been crossed on this one. I appealed to the criminal fraternity, to say you know who did this, please come forward.” DCS Mark Kameen, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, said the gunman was wearing a hat, black balaclava, black padded jacket and black gloves. He was about 5 feet 7 inches and of thin build. Olivia’s killing is the latest with guns and knives on Merseyside in the last week. Police are continuing to investigate the fatal shooting on Sunday of 28-year-old Ashley Dale, an environmental health worker at Knowsley Council. She was found injured in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, and died later in hospital. Dale was not the intended target and it may have been a case of mistaken identity, detectives said. Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said: “Fifteen years to the day Rhys Jones was murdered, another innocent child in our city is the victim of gun crime. Has he learned nothing? Enough is enough. This is a heinous act of evil. If you know something, you should come forward. Guns have no place in our communities.” Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said she was horrified by the killings. “It’s just senseless violence … it’s just unspeakable,” he told BBC Radio 4. “A nine-year-old child lost his life. This is not okay. We must bring these people to justice. It can’t go on for years like it did with poor Rhys Jones.” Steve Rotheram, metro mayor for Liverpool City Region, said he was “very sickened” and “in utter disbelief that another innocent child has lost his life to senseless gun crime in our area”. “Exactly 15 years since our region was rocked to its core by the tragic death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, this devastating loss of another innocent child’s life shows us how much work we still have to do in the fight against gun crime. ,” he said.
