Knotty Ash shooting: nine-year-old victim named as Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Merseyside Police have named the child as Olivia Pratt-Korbel and said her family were “absolutely devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken” following the incident in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, on Monday night.

Speaking at a press conference at the force’s headquarters in Liverpool today (August 23), chief constable Serena Kennedy appealed for anyone with information to come forward, adding “now is not the time to remain tight-lipped”.

She said: “On arrival, our officers could see just how poorly Olivia was and they rushed her to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where, despite the best efforts of medical staff, she sadly died. Her mum was taken to hospital by colleagues from the North West Ambulance Service.

“This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities, and I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who was responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names.

“We need to find all who are responsible for this. Not just the gunman, we need to find who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident.

“Forensic experts are at the scene at this moment in time, conducting house-to-house enquiries and officers are reviewing CCTV footage to establish and identify who is responsible.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, said the gunman, who was wearing a black balaclava with a peak and black gloves, forced his way into the building as Olivia’s mother Cheryl tried to close the door.

The girl was found with a gunshot injury to the chest when officers attended the scene at around 10pm on Monday, and was taken in a critical condition to hospital, where she sadly died.

Her mother was also injured in the shooting and was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to her arm.

A third person, a man, is also being treated in hopsital for gunshot wounds to his body.

The killing came 15 years to the day after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in Croxteth.

Ch Con Kennedy added: “No mum, no dad, no sister, or brother should ever have to experience loss in this way. Poignantly, Olivia was killed on the 15th anniversary of the murder of Rhys Jones – his murder should have been a watershed moment in the battle against gun crime and the use of guns on our streets.

“But shockingly there are still callous criminals who are prepared to use weapons on our streets and have utter disregard for the heartache and the pain that they have caused to Olivia’s family.”

This morning, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims 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 so that we can put the person responsible behind bars where they belong.”