19-year-old victim of 'senseless' Blackburn shooting named locally

A murder investigation has been launched and a manhunt is underway following the death of a woman in Blackburn yesterday.

Emergency services were initially called to reports of gunshots on King Street at around 3pm yesterday (Sunday, May 17).

A 19-year-old woman, who was found unresponsive on arrival, was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.

She has been named locally and by friends as Aya Hachem - a student at the University of Salford.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "Her family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

"A Home Office post-mortem will take place in due course to establish the cause of death, though it is thought at this time that she died from a gunshot wound."

Police are keen to trace anyone who spotted a light-coloured Toyota Avensis, possibly metallic green, which was reportedly spotted leaving the scene.

An investigation has been launched and police are determined to find those responsible, and are asking for the public’s help identify the offender/ offenders.

DCI Jonathan Holmes, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This is a truly shocking and senseless killing, which has robbed a young woman of her life.

"Although the victim has yet to be formally identified, we believe she was a young woman from the local area. Her family have now been informed of her death and they are understandably utterly, utterly distraught. Our thoughts are very much with them, and her wider family and friends, at this awful time.

"We know that King Street will have been busy around the time of the incident and we are confident there is someone, or several people, out there who know what happened. We understand people may be reluctant to come forward during this time, especially if they have not been following the government guidelines about staying at home, but we would reassure them that our immediate concern is to find out what happened."

Police are urging anyone who has information, no matter how insignificant they may feel it to be, to come forward and speak to us as a matter of urgency.

He added: “We appreciate this will have caused a lot of worry in the community, but we have deployed significant additional resources, including armed officers, to carry out high visibility patrols in the area to provide reassurance to residents. Anyone with concerns or questions is welcome to speak to those officers.”

Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with police straight away by calling 101, quoting log number 817 of today (May 17).

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org